MEDICI  POPES 


HERBERT  M.  VAUGHAN 


UCSB    LIBRARY 


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THE    MEDICI    POPES 


Alinari 

LEO   X,   CARDINAL  G1ULIO   DE'    MEDICI  (CLEMENT   VII)  AND   CARDINAL 

DE'    ROSSI 


THE  MEDICI  POPES 

(LEO  X.  AND  CLEMENT  VII.) 


BY 

HERBERT   M.    VAUGHAN,    B.A. 

AUTHOR   OF   "  THE   LAST  OF  THE   ROYAL  STUARTS,"   ETC. 


WITH    TWENTY   ILLUSTRATIONS 


METHUEN  &  CO. 

36     ESSEX     STREET     W.C. 

LONDON 


First  Published  in  1908 


3n  dfcemoriam 

PIAM    ET    SEMPER   VIRENTEM 
FRATRIS    CARISSIMI 

J.    P.    V. 

QUI    AD    ALTERAM    VITAM 

NUPER    TRANSIVIT 
HUNC    DEDICAT    LIBRUM 
AUCTOR    MOESTISSIMUS 
MCMVIII 


PREFACE 

A'  THOUGH  the  names  of  the  two  great 
Popes  of  the  House  of  Medici  loom  large 
in  the  annals  of  the  Italian  Renaissance, 
yet  the  private  side  of  their  lives  and  conduct  has 
naturally  been  dwelt  upon  with  less  insistence  by  the 
papal  historian  than  the  leading  part  they  took  in 
the  development  of  Italian  politics  or  in  the  course 
of  the  Reformation  throughout  Europe.  Even  in 
William  Roscoe's  elaborate  biography  of  Leo  X.,  the 
figure  of  that  famous  pontiff  is  largely  overshadowed 
by  the  momentous  episodes  of  his  reign  both  within 
and  without  Italy;  "one  cannot  see  the  wood  for 
the  intervening  trees !  "  In  the  present  volume, 
therefore,  I  have  made  the  attempt  of  presenting  to 
the  reader  a  purely  personal  study,  from  which  I 
have  excluded,  so  far  as  was  practicable,  all  reference 
to  the  burning  theological  questions  of  the  Refor- 
mation, and  have  also  avoided  any  undue  amount  of 
dissertation  on  the  tortuous  and  complicated  policy 
pursued  by  these  Popes  of  the  House  of  Medici. 
For  I  hope  that  a  simple  account  of  the  personal 
career  and  character  of  Leo  X.  (with  whom  of  neces- 


vii 


viii  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

sity  my  work  chiefly  deals)  will  prove  of  some  value 
to  the  historical  student  of  the  Renaissance,  who  may 
thereby  become  better  able  to  comprehend  the  varying 
part  played  by  the  former  of  the  two  Medicean 
pontiffs  in  the  political  and  religious  struggles  during 
the  opening  decades  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  earliest,  and  indeed  only  contemporary  life  of 
any  importance  of  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  Pope  Leo  X., 
is  the  Vita  Leonis  X.  of  Paolo  Giovio,  Bishop  of 
Nocera,  himself  a  member  of  Leo's  own  brilliant  court 
in  Rome,  and  therefore  a  person  well  qualified  to 
undertake  such  a  task.  The  work  of  Giovio,  or 
Jovius,  which  was  first  published  at  Florence  in  1549, 
is  written  in  Latin,  and  though  it  has  been  rendered 
into  Italian  and  French,  it  has  never,  so  far  as  I  am 
aware,  been  translated  into  English.  Giovio's  Life, 
which  is  divided  into  four  books,  is  a  most  meagre 
and  disappointing  narrative,  scarcely  a  biography  at 
all  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  term,  for  it  principally 
consists  of  a  long  rambling  account  of  contemporary 
politics,  albeit  the  Fourth  Book  contains  a  large  num- 
ber of  intimate  details  concerning  the  Pope,  which 
have  often  been  utilised  by  succeeding  writers.  Poor 
and  unsatisfactory  as  was  Giovio's  Life,  this  work 
remained  for  over  250  years  the  sole  biography  of  the 
great  Medicean  pontiff  until  1797,  when  there  appeared 
an  enlarged  Leonis  X.  Vita  from  the  pen  of  the  learned 
Monsignore  Angelo  Fabroni  of  Pisa.  This  biography, 
which  was  published  in  Latin  and  has  never  been 
translated,  contains  a  fuller  account,  together  with  a 


PREFACE  ix 

copious  Appendix  of  original  Documents  discovered 
and  given  to  the  world  by  Fabroni  himself.  His  work 
was  followed  eight  years  later  by  the  justly  celebrated 
biography  from  the  pen  of  William  Roscoe  of  Liver- 
pool, who  based  his  study  on  Fabroni's  researches. 
Roscoe's  The  Life  and  Pontificate  of  Leo  X.  was  soon 
translated  into  Italian,  and  published  in  1817  by  Count 
Luigi  Bossi  of  Milan,  whose  splendid  edition  in  twelve 
volumes  constitutes  the  best  and  fullest  Life  of  this 
Pope  in  existence.  Amongst  more  recent  volumes  on 
the  same  subject,  the  carefully  compiled  Leo  X.  of 
Professor  Ludwig  Pastor,  published  in  1906,  may  be 
mentioned.  Free  use  has  been  made  in  the  ensuing 
work  of  these  various  biographies,  together  with  their 
voluminous  Appendices. 

I  have  treated  of  Giulio  de'  Medici,  Pope  Clement 
VII.,  in  a  less  detailed  manner,  for  two  reasons  :  first, 
because  his  life  before  obtaining  the  tiara  is  closely 
bound  up  with,  and  consequently  covered  by,  the 
career  of  his  more  distinguished  cousin,  Leo  X.  ;  and 
second,  because  his  private  biography  offers  far  less 
of  general  interest.  Special  attention  has  been  drawn 
throughout  the  book  to  the  various  existing  works  of 
art  in  Florence  and  Rome  which  are  connected  with 
the  personal  history,  or  are  due  to  the  bountiful  patron- 
age of  these  two  Medicean  pontiffs.  In  accordance 
with  the  title  chosen  for  this  work,  I  have  also  added 
a  brief  account  of  the  later  Popes,  Pius  IV.  and  Leo 
XL,  both  of  whom  bore  the  historic  name  of  Medici, 


x  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

although  their  connection  with  the  senior  branch  of  the 
great  Florentine  House  was  exceedingly  remote. 

In  case  it  may  be  remarked  that  an  undue  propor- 
tion of  space  has  been  bestowed  on  the  early  years  ot 
Leo  X.  (and  thereby  also  on  those  of  his  near  kinsman 
and  contemporary,  Clement  VII.),  I  would  reply  that 
far  less  is  generally  known  of  the  youthful  struggles 
and  adventures  of  Cardinal  Giovanni  de'  Medici  than 
of  the  pomp  and  power  of  his  pontificate  ;  and  that 
some  acquaintance  with  the  story  of  Leo  X.'s  early 
poverty  and  insignificance  is  essential  to  a  clearer 
understanding  of  his  subsequent  conduct  as  Supreme 
Pontiff.  The  vast  and  ever-increasing  mass  of  material 
reflecting  on  the  life,  public  and  private,  of  the  Medici 
Popes  has  rendered  my  task  of  selection  and  rejection 
peculiarly  difficult  ;  indeed,  an  adequate  and  compre- 
hensive account  of  the  reign  of  Leo  X.  alone  would 
afford  occupation  for  a  lifetime,  as  every  historian  is 
well  aware.  Yet  I  think  that  from  the  pages  of  this 
book  the  reader  will  contrive  to  obtain  a  tolerably 
accurate  glimpse  into  the  personality  of  those  two  great 
Popes,  whose  deeds  and  influence  for  good  or  evil  did 
so  much  to  shape  the  course  of  the  political,  religious, 
intellectual  and  artistic  development  of  Europe  during 
the  early  stages  of  the  Reformation. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  IN  FLORENCE i 

Aspect  of  Florence  under  the  Medici — Birth  of  Giovanni  de'  Medici — 
His  parents — His  childhood  and  education — He  is  destined  for  the 
Church  —  Quarrel  between  Politian  and  Clarice  de'  Medici — 
Giovanni  de'  Medici  receives  the  tonsure — He  is  given  preferment 
in  the  Church — Lorenzo  de'  Medici  is  anxious  to  obtain  a  Cardinal's 
hat  for  Giovanni — His  efforts  in  Rome — Condition  of  Italian 
politics — Accession  of  Pope  Innocent  VIII. — Giovanni  is  nominated 
a  Cardinal  Deacon — He  is  sent  to  the  University  of  Pisa — Bernardo 
Dovizi  of  Bibbiena — Giovanni  receives  the  scarlet  hat  in  public — 
Rejoicings  in  Florence — Giovanni  sets  out  for  Rome — His  reception 
by  Innocent  VIII. — Letter  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  to  his  son 
Giovanni — Death  of  Lorenzo. 

CHAPTER  II 
MISFORTUNE  AND  EXILE 28 

Effects  of  Lorenzo's  death  upon  the  politics  of  Florence  and  of  Italy — 
Piero  de'  Medici  succeeds  his  father — Lorenzo's  three  sons  and 
their  respective  characters — Arrival  of  the  Cardinal  in  Florence — 
•  State  of  Europe  in  the  year  1492 — Death  of  Innocent  VIII.  and 
election  of  Roderigo  Borgia  as  Alexander  VI. — Giovanni  returns  to 
Florence — Sermons  and  influence  of  Savonarola  in  Florence — 
Critical  condition  of  Italian  politics — Ludovico  Sforza  invites 
Charles  VIII.  of  France  into  Italy — Attitude  of  the  Medici— Piero's 
foolish  conduct — The  Medici  are  expelled  from  Florence — Bravery 
of  the  Cardinal — His  flight  to  Bologna — Entry  of  King  Charles 
VIII.  into  Florence — Position  of  the  Cardinal  and  his  brothers — 
Giulio  de'  Medici  joins  his  cousin,  the  Cardinal — Together  they 
travel  in  Germany  and  France — Meeting  at  Savona  of  Giovanni 
and  Giulio  de'  Medici  with  Cardinal  Delia  Rovere,  afterwards  Pope 
Julius  II. — Death  of  Alexander  VI.  and  election  of  Pius  III. — Early 


xii  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

PAGE 

death  of  Pius  III.  and  election  of  Julius  II. — Piero  de'  Medici  is 
drowned  in  the  river  Garigliano — His  wife  and  family — His  monu- 
ment at  Monte  Cassino. 

CHAPTER  III 
RISE  TO  POWER  UNDER  JULIUS  II 52 

Improved  position  of  the  House  of  Medici — Friendship  of  the  Cardinal 
with  the  Papal  nephew — The  Cardinal's  mode  of  life  in  Rome — 
Character  and  policy  of  Julius  II. — Contrast  between  the  Pope  and 
the  Cardinal — Campaigns  of  Julius — He  is  accompanied  by  Giovanni 
and  Giulio  de'  Medici — Surrender  of  Perugia  and  Bologna  to  the 
Pope — The  League  of  Cambrai — Loss  of  Bologna  and  murder  of 
Cardinal  Alidosi  of  Pavia — Giovanni  de'  Medici  is  appointed  Papal 
Legate  of  Bologna — Gaston  de  Foix — The  battle  of  Ravenna — The 
Cardinal-Legate  a  prisoner  of  the  French — He  sends  his  cousin 
Giulio  de'  Medici  to  Rome — The  Cardinal  and  Giulio  de'  Medici  at 
Milan — Retreat  of  the  French  army — Escape  of  the  Cardinal  and 
his  subsequent  adventures — Importance  of  this  episode  in  the 
Cardinal's  career. 

CHAPTER  IV 
RETURN  OF  THE  MEDICI  TO  FLORENCE 79 

The  conference  at  Mantua — Julius  wishes  to  restore  the  Medici  to 
Florence — Efforts  of  the  Cardinal  and  opposition  of  the  Duke  of 
Urbino  to  them — The  Cardinal  with  the  Spanish  army  of  Cardona 
prepares  to  cross  the  Apennines  into  Tuscany — Public  feeling  in 
Florence — The  Gonfalionere  Soderini  and  Niccolo  Machiavelli  urge 
the  citizens  to  defend  their  city  against  the  Medici — Advance  of 
the  Cardinal  towards  Barberino — The  Florentine  Republic  rejects 
Cardona's  offers — Siege  and  Sack  of  Prato — Conduct  of  the 
Cardinal  thereat — Giuliano  de'  Medici  re-enters  Florence — Flight 
of  Soderini — The  Cardinal  returns  to  the  city — He  is  practically 
master  of  Florence — Formation  of  the  societies  of  the  Diamond 
and  the  Bough — Death  of  Pope  Julius  II. — The  Cardinal  sets  out 
for  the  conclave  in  Rome. 

CHAPTER  V 
LEO  DECIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS too 

Last  days  of  Julius  II. — The  judgment  of  history  upon  him — His 
portrait  by  Raphael — The  Conclave  of  March,  1513 — Illness  of 
Giovanni  de'  Medici — He  is  elected  Pope  under  the  title  of  Leo  X. 


CONTENTS  xiii 


— Rejoicings  in  Rome  and  Florence — The  personal  appearance  of 
the  new  Pope — He  is  crowned  in  St.  Peter's — High  hopes  for  his 
reign — Description  of  Rome  in  the  year  1513 — The  ceremony  of 
the  Sacro  Possesso,  or  formal  occupation  of  the  Lateran  by  a  new 
Pontiff — Elaborate  preparations  for  the  procession — Description- of 
the  pageant — Decorations  and  laudatory  verses  in  the  city — Agostino 
Chigi — Progress  of  Leo  X.  across  the  city — Return  of  the  procession 
— Letter  of  Gian-Giacomo  Penni — Opening  of  the  Leonine  Age  in 
Rome. 

CHAPTER  VI 
MEDICEAN  AMBITION 129 

Count  Alberto  Pio's  opinion  of  the  new  Pope — The  private  aims  and 
ambitious  character  of  Leo  X. — Condition  of  European  politics  in 
1513 — Giuliano  de'  Medici  is  made  Gonfalionere  of  the  Church — 
Festival  at  the  Roman  Capitol — Leo  X.  poses  as  the  peacemaker  of 
Europe — Accession  of  Francis  I.  to  the  throne  of  France — He 
invades  Italy  with  a  vast  army — He  is  opposed  by  Leo  X. — The 
battle  of  Marignano  and  its  results — Alarm  of  Leo  X. — He  decides 
to  appeal  in  person  to  Francis — Leo  sets  out  to  meet  the  French 
King  at  Bologna — His  reception  in  Florence — The  meeting  of  Leo 
and  Francis  at  Bologna — Its  unsatisfactory  and  indecisive  results — 
Leo  returns  to  Florence — Illness  and  death  of  Giuliano  de'  Medici 
— Character  of  Giuliano — The  war  of  Urbino — Lorenzo  de'  Medici, 
the  Pope's  nephew,  is  declared  Duke  of  Urbino. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X 160 

Rome  the  intellectual  and  artistic  centre  of  the  Christian  world  under 
Leo  X. — Patronage  of  literature  by  the  Pope — His  neglect  of 
Ariosto,  Guicciardini,  Machiavelli  and  Erasmus — Rise  of  Bembo 
and  Sadoleto — Musicians,  buffoons  and  Improvvisatori  at  the 
Vatican — The  Pope's  love  of  music — Camillo  Querno,  the  arch- 
poet — Practical  joke  played  upon  Baraballo — Unseemly  conduct  at 
Leo's  court — Influence  of  Fra  Mariano  Fetti — Beginnings  of  the 
Drama — Performances  at  the  Vatican — The  Calandria  of  Cardinal 
Bibbiena — The  Suppositi  of  Ariosto — Other  dramatic  performances 
at  the  Papal  court — Leo's  extravagance — Condition  of  the  papal 
finances — Visit  of  Isabella  d'  Este,  Marchioness  of  Mantua,  to 
Rome — Banquets  and  concerts  of  the  Italian  Renaissance — Festi- 
vities in  Rome  during  the  Carnival  of  1515 — Departure  of  Isabella 
d'  Este  from  Rome. 


xiv  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

CHAPTER  VIII 

PAGE 

LEO'S  HUNTING 192 

Leo's  devotion  to  sport  in  his  youth — He  continues  to  hunt  after  his 
election — The  Papal  villa  of  La  Magliana — The  preserved  zones 
for  the  Pope's  hunting — Methods  of  contemporary  sport  in  Italy — 
The  Pope's  head  keeper,  Boccamazzo — Leo's  chamberlain,  Serapica 
— The  Pope  hunts  with  Cardinal  Farnese — The  hunting  poems  of 
Molosso  and  Postumo — Description  of  a  day's  sport  under  Leo  X. — 
Criticism  of  Leo's  conduct — His  actual  participation  in  sport — His 
neglect  of  business — Sums  paid  for  hawks  for  the  papal  mews 
before  the  Pope's  death. 

CHAPTER  IX 
LEO  X.  AND  RAPHAEL 215 

Leo  X.  the  chief  patron  of  Raphael  of  Urbino — The  Pope's  neglect  of 
Michelangelo — Reasons  for  this  neglect — Comparison  of  the  chances 
for  the  papal  favour  of  Michelangelo  and  Raphael — Michelangelo 
is  set  to  design  a  fagade  for  the  church  of  San  Lorenzo  in  Florence 
— Early  acquaintance  of  the  Pope  with  Raphael — The  artist 
beautifies  the  basilica  of  Santa  Maria  in  Domenica — Raphael  is 
employed  by  Julius  II.  to  decorate  the  official  apartments  of  the 
Vatican — Death  of  Julius  and  election  of  Leo  X. — Leo  commands 
Raphael  to  complete  the  painting  of  the  Stanze — Portraits  of 
Julius  II.,  Leo  X.  and  other  famous  personages  in  the  frescoes  of 
the  Vatican — Completion  of  the  Halls  of  the  Segnatura,  the  Eliodoro 
and  the  Incendio — Wood  carving  and  heraldic  ornamentation  in 
the  Stanze  di  Raffaelo — Decoration  of  the  Loggie  by  Raphael  and 
Giovanni  da  Udine — The  bathroom  of  the  Cardinal  Bibbiena — The 
cartoons  for  the  tapestries  of  the  Sistine  Chapel — Raphael  at  Leo's 
suggestion  writes  a  treatise  upon  ancient  Rome  and  prepares  a  plan 
of  the  city — Sudden  illness  and  early  death  of  the  artist — Grief  in 
Rome — Letters  of  Michiel  and  Castiglione — Raphael's  portrait  of 
LeoX. 

CHAPTER  X 
CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  CARDINALS 244 

Dissatisfaction  felt  at  Leo's  policy  in  the  Sacred  College — His  early 
nominations  to  the  Cardinalate — Giulio  de'  Medici  is  made  Arch- 
bishop of  Florence,  and  later  a  Cardinal — His  unpopularity — Anger 
of  Alfonso  Petrucci  against  Leo — Petrucci  is  supported  by  the 
Cardinals  Riario,  Sauli,  Soderini  and  Adrian  of  Corneto — Petrucci 
conspires  against  the  Pope's  life — The  plot  discovered — Arrest  and 


CONTENTS 


imprisonment  of  Petrucci  and  Sauli — Leo  calls  the  consistory,  and 
accuses  Adrian  and  Soderini  of  complicity  in  the  plot — Arrest  of 
Riario — The  Cardinals  heavily  fined  and  punished — Execution  of 
Petrucci  in  prison — Criticism  of  Leo's  conduct — Leo  creates  over 
thirty  cardinals  in  one  batch — Important  results  of  this  step — 
General  distrust  of  the  Pope's  policy — Betrothal  of  Lorenzo  de' 
Medici  to  Madeleine  de  la  Tour  d'Auvergne — Lorenzo's  mission  to 
the  French  Court — Lorenzo  and  his  bride  return  to  Florence — Birth 
of  their  daughter,  Caterina  de'  Medici — Death  of  Lorenzo  and  his 
wife— Tombs  of  the  Medici  in  San  Lorenzo — Cardinal  Giulio  takes 
over  the  government  of  Florence — His  all-powerful  influence  with 
the  Pope — Indecision  of  Leo — He  allies  himself  with  the  Emperor 
Charles  V. — Opening  of  the  war  between  Charles  V.  and  Francis 
of  France. 

CHAPTER  XI 
DEATH  AND  CHARACTER  OF  LEO  X 268 

Giulio  de'  Medici  sends  news  to  Rome  of  the  recapture  of  Parma  and 
Piacenza — Leo  is  overjoyed  at  the  news — He  is  seized  with  a 
sudden  chill  at  his  villa  of  La  Magliana — He  returns  to  the  Vatican, 
where  he  expires  on  ist  December,  1513 — Conflicting  accounts  of 
his  last  hours — Suspicion  of  poison — Reception  of  the  news  of  the 
Pope's  death  in  Rome — He  is  buried  in  St.  Peter's — His  monument 
in  the  Dominican  Church  of  Santa  Maria  sopra  Minerva — Analysis 
of  Leo's  personal  character — Opinion  of  Guicciardini — Unfounded 
charges  of  immorality  and  impiety — His  inordinate  craving  for 
pleasure  and  amusement — The  real  failings  of  Leo  X. — Conclusion. 


CHAPTER  XII 

CLEMENT  SEPTIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS 285 

The  Conclave  of  December,  1521 — Election  and  Pontificate  of  Adrian  VI. 
— Cardinal  Giulio  de'  Medici  retires  to  Florence — He  returns  to 
Rome  later  at  Adrian's  request — Death  of  Adrian  VI. — The  Con- 
clave of  October,  1523 — Its  delays  and  scandals — Election  of  Giulio 
de'  Medici,  who  assumes  the  title  of  Clement  VII. — The  choice 
approved  by  the  European  sovereigns — Appearance  and  character 
of  Clement  VII. — Renewed  activity  in  the  artistic  world — The  Hall 
of  Constantine  in  the  Vatican  completed  by  Giulio  Romano  and 
Penni — Emblem  of  Clement  VII. — Clement's  former  patronage  of 
Raphael — The  Villa  Medici  on  Monte  Mario — The  painting  of 
the  Transfiguration — Clement  gives  numerous  commissions  to 
Benvenuto  Cellini — The  master-jeweller's  account  of  the  Pope — 


xvi  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

PAGE 

Cellini  serves  the  Pope  faithfully  during  the  sack  of  Rome — 
Clement's  appreciation  of  Michelangelo — The  master  is  com- 
missioned by  Clement  to  erect  the  New  Sacristy  and  the  Laurentian 
Library  at  San  Lorenzo  in  Florence — Progress  of  this  work  inter- 
rupted by  the  siege  of  Florence — Michelangelo  is  forgiven  by 
Clement  for  his  behaviour  at  the  time  of  the  siege — The  work  at 
San  Lorenzo  left  incomplete  at  Clement's  death  and  never  re- 
sumed. 

CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  SACK  OF  ROME 307 

Clement  VII.  pursues  a  fatal  policy  of  vacillation  between  the  Emperor 
and  the  French  King — The  battle  of  Pavia — Clement  persists 
in  his  political  folly  and  defies  the  Emperor — Cardinal  Colonna's 
raid  upon  Rome — The  united  army  of  German  landsknechts  under 
Frundsberg  and  of  Spanish  veterans  under  the  Constable  of 
Bourbon  advances  towards  Rome — The  Spanish  fleet  under  the 
viceroy  Lannoy  reaches  Gaeta — Terrible  position  of  Clement — The 
battle  of  Frosinone — Truce  between  the  Pope  and  Lannoy — The 
army  of  Bourbon  continues  to  move  southward — It  turns  aside 
from  Florence — It  proceeds  by  way  of  Viterbo  upon  Rome — Un- 
prepared state  of  the  city — Abject  folly  of  Clement — Bourbon 
attacks  the  walls  of  Rome  and  is  killed — The  foreign  forces  enter 
the  city — Clement  and  most  of  the  members  of  the  Roman  Court 
seek  refuge  in  the  Castle  of  Sant'  Angelo — Massacre  and  sack  of 
the  city — Frightful  horrors  committed — The  return  of  the  Cardinal 
Colonna — Position  of  the  Pope  in  Sant'  Angelo — Defence  of  the 
castle  under  Santacroce  and  Benvenuto  Cellini — News  of  the 
revolt  in  Florence  and  of  the  expulsion  of  the  Medicean  bastards 
brought  to  the  Pope — Miserable  plight  of  the  Pope — He  surrenders 
unconditionally  to  the  representative  of  Charles  V. — Flight  of 
Clement  to  Orvieto — The  English  Embassy  at  Orvieto — Clement  is 
reconciled  to  the  Emperor,  whom  he  crowns  at  Bologna — Siege 
and  capitulation  of  Florence. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  LAST  YEARS  OF  CLEMENT  VII. 329 

The  Pope's  relatives,  Alessandro  and  Ippolito  de'  Medici — Preference 
of  Clement  VII.  for  the  former,  who  is  created  Duke  of  Florence — 
Ippolito  is  made  a  Cardinal  against  his  wish — Memorials  of 
Clement  VII.  in  Florence — Caterina  de'  Medici  and  Clement's 
anxiety  to  arrange  an  important  marriage  for  her — The  Emperor 


CONTENTS  xvii 


and  Pope  again  meet  at  Bologna  —  Catherine  is  betrothed  to 
Henry,  Duke  of  Orleans  —  Meeting  of  Francis  I.  and  Clement  at 
Marseilles  —  Marriage  of  Catherine  in  the  Pope's  presence  —  Return 
of  Clement  to  Rome—  His  last  months  spent  in  sickness  and  misery 
—  The  Pope  and  Benvenuto  Cellini  —  Clement's  death  a  cause  of 
popular  rejoicing  —  Estimate  of  Clement  VII.'s  character. 


PAGE 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE  LATER  MEDICI  POPES 


Gian-Angelo  Medici  of  Milan,  Pius  IV.—  Alessandro  de'  Medici  of 
Florence,  Leo  XI.  —  Leo's  election  and  brief  reign  of  one  month  — 
His  monument  in  St.  Peter's. 

APPENDIX    ............ 

INDEX 


353 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


LEO     X.    ATTENDED    BY     THE     CARDINALS     GlU-LIO    DE*     MEDICI     (AFTER- 
WARDS CLEMENT  VII.)  AND  LUIGI  DE'  Rossi     .         .         .        Frontispiece 
From  the  painting  by  Raphael  in  the  Pitti  Palace,  Florence. 

FACING    PAGE 

GIOVANNI    DE'    MEDICI    KNEELING    BEFORE   HIS   FATHER,    LORENZO    IL 

MAGNIFICO 18 

Fresco  by  Vasari  in  the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  Florence. 

GlULIANO  DELLA  RoVERE  (JULIUS  II.)  WITH  GlOVANNI  DE1  MEDICI  AND 

OTHER  MEMBERS  OF  HIS  COURT 56 

From  the  Stanze  di  Raffaello  in  the  Vatican. 
FLORENCE  IN  THE  YEAR  1529 82 

Fresco  in  the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  Florence. 

JULIUS  II 103 

From  the  cartoon  by  Raphael  in  the  Corsini  Palace,  Florence. 

LEO  X.  RIDING  IN  STATE 125 

Detail  from  the  Flight  of  Attila  in  the  Stanze  di  Raffaello. 

LEO  X.'s  PROCESSION  IN  FLORENCE 144 

Fresco  in  the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  Florence. 

TOMB  AND  STATUE  OF  GIULIANO  DE'  MEDICI 157 

By  Michelangelo  in  the  New  Sacristy  of  Sun  Lorenzo,  Florence. 

EMBLEMS  OF  LEO  X.  AND  THE  MEDICI 172 

Wood  carving  in  the  Stanze  di  Raffaello. 

CARDINAL  BERNARDO  DOVIZI  DA  BIBBIENA 185 

From  the  painting  by  Raphael  in  the  Pitti  Palace,  Florence. 
PAPAL  ACHIEVEMENT  OF  LEO  X 190 

By  Giovanni  da  Udine,  in  the  Borgia  Apartments  of  the  Vatican. 
ALESSANDRO  FARNESE  (PAUL  III.) 200 

From  the  paiitiing  by  Paris  Bordone  in  the  Pitti  Palace,  Florence. 
LA  SALA  DI  ELIODORO 223 

Stanse  di  Raffaello. 


xx  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

FACING    PAGE 

LOGGIA  DI  RAFFAELLO 233 

In  the  Vatican. 
LEO  X.'s  CREATION  OF  CARDINALS 257 

Fresco  by  Vasari  in  the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  Florence. 

LORENZO  DE'  MEDICI,  DUKE  OF  URBINO 263 

Staftie  by  Michelangelo  in  the  New  Sacristy  of  San  Lorenzo,  Florence. 

GIULIO  DE'  MEDICI  (CLEMENT  VII.) 289 

From  the  painting  by  Bronzino  in  the  Uffizi  Gallery,  Florence. 

CLEMENT  VII.  AND  THE  EMPEROR  CHARLES  V 308 

Fresco  by  Vasari  in  the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  Florence. 

CLEMENT  VII.  AND  FRANCIS  I. 326 

Fresco  by  Vasari  in  the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  Florence. 

CATERINA  DE'  MEDICI,  QUEEN  OF  FRANCE 339 

From  a  painting  in  the  Uffizi  Gallery,  Florence. 

The  illustrations  are  from  photographs  by  Messrs.  Alinari,  Florence. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Amongst  the  printed  works  that  have  been  consulted  during  the  preparation 
of  this  volume,  some  of  the  more  important  and  useful  are  enumerated  below  : — 

Paulus  Jovius  [Paolo  Giovio,  Bishop  of  Nocera].     Vita  Leonis  X.     Florentine, 

Z549-     (Quoted  as  Jovius.) 

Angelo  Fabroni.     Leonis  X.  Vita.     Pisa,  1807.     (Quoted  as  Fabroni.) 
William  Roscoe.     The  Life  and  Pontificate  of  Leo  X.     Bohn's  edition,  London, 

1846.     (Quoted  as  Roscoe.) 
Count  Luigi   Bossi.      Vita  e  Pontificate  di  Leone  X.   di   Guglielmo  Roscoe. 

Milano,  1816.     (Quoted  as  Bossi- Roscoe.) 

Francesco  Nitti.     Leone  X.  e  la  sua  Politica.     G.  Barbera,  Firenze,  1892. 
Professor  Ludwig  Pastor.     Leo  X.  Geschichte  der  Pdpste  seit  dem  Ausgang  des 

Mittelalters.     Freiburg  im  Breisgau,  1906.     (Quoted  as  Pastor.) 
Dr.  M.  Creighton,  Bishop  of  London.     A  History  of  the  Papacy  from  the  Great 

Schism  to  the  Sack  of  Rome  (vols.  v.  and  vi.).      Longmans,  Green  and 

Co.,  London,  1904.      (Quoted  as  Creighton.) 

Ferdinand  Gregorovius.      History   of   Rome   in    the    Middle  Ages.       Trans- 
lated by   Annie   Hamilton.       George   Bell,   London,  1902.       (Quoted  as 

Gregorovius.) 
Jacob  Burckhardt.     The  Civilization  of  the  Renaissance  in  Italy.    Translated 

by  S.  G.  C.  Middlemore.     Swan  Sonnenschein  &  Co.,  London,  1892. 
M.  Sanudo.     /  Diarii  (1496-1533).     Venezia,  1879-1902. 
Francesco  Guicciardini.     Storia  d'  Italia.     Edited  by  Gio.  Rosini.     Capolago, 

1836. 

Lorenzo  Pignotti.     Storia  della  Toscana.     Pisa,  1813. 
H.  E.  Napier.     Florentine  History  (vol.  iv.).     Moxon,  London,  1846. 
J.  Michelet.     La  Renaissance.     Le'vy,  Paris,  1898. 
G.  Del  Badia.     Diario  Florentine  di  Luca  Landucci.     Sansoni,  Firenze,  1883. 

(Quoted  as  Landucci.) 

E,  Bacciotti.    Firenze  Illustrata.     Firenze,  1879. 
C.  Yriarte.     Florence.     Sampson  Lowe,  London,  1882. 
W.  Roscoe.     Life  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici.     London,  1796. 
Professor   E.   Armstrong.      Lorenzo   de'   Medici.      Putnams,   New    York    and 

London,   1896. 

zzi 


xxil  THE  MEDICI, POPES 

C.  Belviglieri.     Tavole  Sincrone  e  Genealogiche  di  Storia  Italiana.     Firenze, 

1885. 

E.  Grifi.     Saunterings  in  Florence.     Bemporad  e  Figlio,  Firenze,  1899. 
Professor  Pasquale  Villari.     Life  and  Times  of  Niccolb  Machiavelli.     Translated 

by  Madame  Linda  Villari.     (Third  Edition.)     Fisher  Unwin,  London,  N.D. 

(Quoted  as  Villari.) 

J.  C.  L.  Sismondi.     Histoire  des  Republiques  Italiennes.     Bruxelles,  1839. 
Professor  R.  Lanciani.     The  Golden  Days  of  the  Renaissance  in  Rome.     Hough- 
ton,  Mifflin  and  Co.,  Boston  and  New  York,  1906.     (Quoted  as  Lanciani.) 
B.  Platina.     Le  Vite  de'  Pontefici.     In  Venetia,  1685. 
Raynaldus.     Diario  di  Paridc  Grasso. 
Leopold   Ranke.     History   of  the  Popes.     Translated  by   E.  Foster.     Bohn's 

edition,  London,  1889. 
Count  Domenico  Gnoli.     Le  Caccie  di  Leone  X.      La  Nuova  Antologia,  vol. 

cxxvii. 
Signor  Alessandro  Luzio.     Isabella  d"  Este  ne1  primordi  del  Papato  di  Leone  X. 

Cogliati,  Milano,  1907. 
Adolphus  Trollope.     The  Girlhood  of  Catherine  de  Medici.     Chapman  &  Hall, 

London,  1856. 
Scipione  Ammirato.     Ritratti  d'  huomini  illustri  di  Casa  Medici.     (Opuscoli, 

vol.  iii.)     Firenze,  1640. 
Cesare  Guasti.     II  Sacco  di  Prato  e  il  Ritorno  dei  Medici  in  Firenze  nel  1512. 

Bologna,  1880. 

G.  Milanesi.     //  Sacco  di  Roma  del  1527.     G.  Barbara,  Firenze,  1867. 
J.  A.  Symonds.     Renaissance  in  Italy.     Holt  &  Co.,  New  York,  1887. 
J.  A.  Symonds.     Life  of  Michelangelo  Buonarotti.     Macmillan,  London.  1901. 
Benvenuto  Cellini.     Vita  di  scritta  da  lui  medesimo.     Firenze,  1842. 
Giorgio   Vasari.     Lives   of  the   Painters,   Sculptors   and   Architects.      Bohn's 

edition,  London,  1850. 
Eugene  Muntz,     Raphael,  His  Life,  Works  and  Times.     Translated  by  Walter 

Armstrong.     Chapman  &  Hall,  London,  1896.     (Quoted  as  Muntz.) 
Baldassare  Castiglione.     //  Cortigiano.     Vinegia,  1556. 
A.  Braschet.     Les  Archives  de  la  Serenissime  Republique  de  Venise.     Venise, 

1857. 


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THE    MEDICI    POPES 

CHAPTER  I 

CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  IN  FLORENCE 

From  the  frightful  spectacle  of  poverty,  barbarity  and  ignorance, 
from  the  oppression  of  illiterate  masters,  and  the  sufferings  of  a  degraded 
peasantry,  which  the  annals  of  England  and  France  present  to  us,  it  is 
delightful  to  turn  to  the  opulent  and  enlightened  states  of  Italy,  to 
the  vast  and  magnificent  cities,  the  ports,  the  arsenals,  the  villas,  the 
museums,  the  libraries,  the  marts  filled  with  every  article  of  comfort  or 
luxury,  the  factories  swarming  with  artisans.  .  .  .  With  peculiar  pleasure 
every  cultivated  mind  must  repose  on  the  fair,  the  happy,  the  glorious 
Florence,  the  halls  which  rang  with  the  mirth  of  Pulci,  the  cell  where 
twinkled  the  midnight  lamp  of  Politian,  the  statues  on  which  the  young 
eye  of  Michelangelo  glared  with  the  frenzy  of  a  kindred  inspiration, 
the  gardens  in  which  Lorenzo  meditated  some  sparkling  song  for  the 
May- Day  dance  of  the  Etrurian  virgins  (Lord  Macaulay,  Essay  on 
Machiavellt). 

IN  our  efforts  to  realise  the  leading  events  of  our  own 
history  we  experience  no  small  difficulty  from  the 
fact  that  so  much  of  the  face  of  England  has  com- 
pletely altered  its  outward  appearance  under  the  stress  of 
modern  development,  so  that  we  find  it  particularly  hard 
to  picture  to  ourselves  their  original  setting.  Our  over- 
grown yet  ever-spreading  capital  owns  scarcely  a  feature 
to-day  in  common  with  the  London  of  the  Tudors  or  Plan- 
tagenets ;  the  relentless  pushing  of  industrial  enterprise 
has  turned  whole  shires  from  green  to  black,  from  verdant 
countryside  to  smoke-grimed  scenes  of  commerce.  It  is 
therefore  well-nigh  impossible  for  us  in  many  cases  to  con- 


2  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

jure  up  the  old-world  conditions  of  Merrie  England.  But 
in  writing  of  Italian  annals  we  are  confronted  by  no  such 
problem  ;  altered  to  a  certain  extent  no  doubt  is  the  pres- 
ent aspect  of  Italy,  yet  in  Florence,  Venice,  Siena  and 
most  of  her  cities  we  still  possess  the  empty  stages  of  the 
pageants  and  deeds  of  long  ago,  all  ready  prepared  for  us 
to  people  with  the  famous  figures  of  the  historic  past. 

Standing  on  the  airy  heights  of  San  Miniato,  where 
the  golden  mosaics  of  its  venerable  church  have  cauhgt 
the  passing  glories  of  the  sunset  for  nigh  upon  a  thousand 
years,  or  strolling  amongst  the  ilex  alleys  of  "  Boboli's 
ducal  bowers,"  we  can  still  gaze  below  upon  the  Florence  of 
the  Medici,  the  Florence  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent  and 
of  Savonarola,  the  Florence  of  Popes  Leo  and  Clement, 
of  Michelangelo  and  Machiavelli.     For  beneath  us  swift 
Arno  still  shoots  under  the  arches  of  Taddeo  Gaddi's 
ancient  bridge  piled  high  with  its  load  of  tiny  shops  that 
Florentine  goldsmiths  have  inhabited  for  the  past  six  cen- 
turies.    There  still  dominates  the  red-roofed  city  Brunel- 
leschi's  huge  cupola,  and  beside  it  still  springs  aloft  "into 
blue  aether  that  no  clouds  o'ercast"  the  delicate  parti- 
coloured campanile  of  the  Shepherd- Painter.     Nearer  to 
us  the  graceful  yet  sturdy  belfry  of  the  old  civic  palace 
soars  majestically  into  the  clear  atmosphere,  and  hard  by 
we  note  the  fantastic  spire  of  the  Badia,  and  alongside  it 
the  severe  outline  of  the  turret  that  adjoins  the  grim  castle 
of  the  Podesta.     Westward  the  slender  pinnacle  of  Santa 
Maria  Novella  greets  our  eyes,  whilst  amidst  this  varied 
group  of  towers  there  obtrudes  on  our  sight  the  square 
mass  of  Or  San  Michele,  that  sacred  citadel  of  the  Flor- 
entine guilds.     Oltr'  Arno  nestling  at  our  feet  remains 
wholly  unchanged,  and  of  a  truth  the  only  conspicuous 
objects  that  can  interrupt  our  mental  retrospect  of  the 
city  of  Lorenzo  and   Leo  are  the  mean  tower  of  Santa 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  IN  FLORENCE  3 

Croce,  the  long  colonnades  of  the  Uffizi,  and  the  clumsy 
dome  that  surmounts  the  gorgeous  charnel-house  of  the 
Medicean  Grand- Dukes.  To  make  the  picture  perfect, 
we  must  blind  our  eyes  to  these  excrescences  of  a  later  age, 
and  by  another  slight  effect  of  the  imagination  we  must 
behold  the  modern  raw  suburbs  and  their  smoke-belching 
factories  sink  into  the  soil  of  the  Florentine  plain  to  give 
place  to  tracts  of  garden  and  orchard,  to  shady  groves  and 
smiling  vineyards,  that  lie  outside  the  broad  coronal  of 
towered  walls,  wherewith  Arnolfo  di  Cambio  endowed  his 
native  city  for  her  protection.  We  must  next  conceive 
the  steep  hillside  of  Fiesole  less  populous  than  at  the 
present  day,  less  marred  by  quarries  and  mean  houses, 
yet  freely  besprinkled  with  ample  villas.  Amidst  this 
radiant  scenery  the  practised  eye  can  easily  detect  the 
chief  Medicean  residences ; — that  sheltered  pleasaunce 
with  its  long  terraces  below  the  crest  of  ancient  Faesulae  ; 
the  favourite  retreat  of  the  sickly  Piero  and  the  Magnifi- 
cent Lorenzo,  with  its  broad  roof  peeping  forth  from  bosky 
thickets  of  elm  and  cypress  at  sunny  Careggi ;  and  again 
by  directing  our  glance  across  the  fertile  plain  towards 
Prato,  we  seem  to  discover  the  whereabouts  of  Sangallo's 
stately  palace  at  low-lying  Cajano,  where  the  luckless 
Clement  VII.  spent  much  of  his  childhood.  No  stretch  of 
the  imagination  is  however  required  on  our  part  to  realise 
the  eternal  hills  which  form  the  northern  background  to 
the  City  of  the  Lily  ;  for  ever  unchanged  and  unchange- 
able remain  the  stony  stretches  of  familiar  Monte  Morello, 
the  green  and  russet  slopes  of  the  heights  that  rise  in  end- 
less succession  eastward  of  Fiesole,  and  the  barren  violet- 
tinted  mountains  bounding  the  plain  above  Prato  and 
Pistoja.  How  exquisite,  and  also  how  unaltered  even 
to-day,  is  the  distant  aspect  of  Florence,  "la  bellissima  e 
famosissima  figlia  di  Roma,"  as  one  of  her  most  famous 


4  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

sons  thus  addressed  his  ancient  mother !  With  so  superb 
a  setting,  amid  such  glorious  surroundings,  the  past  history 
of  Florence  becomes  a  living  thing,  which  it  needs  no 
striving  to  quicken,  for  the  true  Medicean  city  of  the 
Italian  Renaissance  stands  before  us  to-day  sharply 
defined  in  the  crystal-clear  air  of  Tuscany— 

Dove  "1  humano  spirito  si  purga 
E  di  salir  al  Ciel'  diventa  degno.1 

In  the  heart  of  the  town  itself,  almost  beneath  the  shadow 
of  the  vast  dome,  out  of  sight  of  which  no  true-born  son 
of  Florence  is  said  ever  to  feel  happy,  rises  that  group 
of  buildings  which  is  so  closely  associated  with  the  origin 
and  fortunes  of  the  House  of  Medici.  Here  lies  the  great 
basilica  of  San  Lorenzo  with  its  pitiful  naked  fagade,  that 
Medicean  popes  and  princes  were  always  intending  to 
convert  into  a  costly  thing  of  beauty  ;  at  its  transepts  up- 
rear  the  rival  sacristies  of  Brunelleschi  and  Michelangelo, 
above  which  looms  the  red  cupola  of  the  Grand- Ducal 
mausoleum.  Beside  the  church  extends  the  long  window- 
pierced  form  of  the  Laurentian  Library,  overlooking  the 
quiet  cloister  in  a  dark  angle  of  which  sits  eternally  the 
robed  and  mitred  figure  of  the  grim-visaged  Paolo 
Giovio,  the  venal  Plutarch  of  his  age  and  the  earliest  bio- 
grapher of  Pope  Leo  X.  Upon  the  little  piazza  before 
the  church,  nowadays  the  busy  scene  of  a  daily  market 
of  cheap  or  tawdry  goods,  abuts  the  massive  palace  which 
was  the  cradle  of  the  Medicean  race.  Much  changed 
in  outward  aspect  is  the  mansion  that  Michelozzi  con- 
structed for  Cosimo  il  Vecchio,  for  the  Riccardi,  who 
bought  this  historic  building  in  after  years,  must  needs 
spoil  its  original  proportions  by  adding  largely  to  the 
structure.  The  statue-set  garden  wherein  Cosimo  and 

1  //  Purgatorio,  canto  i. 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  IN  FLORENCE  5 

Lorenzo  were  wont  to  stroll  has  wholly  disappeared,  but 
the  central  courtyard  with  its  antique  friezes  and  its  stone 
medallions  remains  intact.  A  most  precious  relic  of  its 
former  owners  it  still  retains  in  the  exquisite  little  chapel 
covered  with  Benozzo  Gozzoli's  renowned  frescoes,  where- 
in are  portrayed  in  glowing  colours  and  in  gleaming  gold 
Cosimo  the  Elder,  his  son  Piero,  his  grandchildren,  and 
his  Imperial  guests  from  distant  Byzantium,  all  riding 
with  their  trains  of  richly-clad  attendants,  with  hawk  and 
hound,  and  even  with  trained  leopard,  amidst  a  landscape 
of  marvellous  but  fantastic  beauty.  The  old  Medicean 
mansion,  lying  between  Piazza  San  Lorenzo  and  the 
broad  curve  of  Via  Larga,  cannot  perhaps  aspire  to  the 
symmetry  and  rich  decoration  of  Palazzo  Strozzi  hard  by, 
nor  can  it  vie  in  bulk  and  majesty  with  Messer  Pitti's  vast 
palace  on  the  slopes  of  Oltr'  Arno ;  nevertheless  it  is 
a  goodly  building,  well-proportioned  and  imposing,  and 
withal  suitably  contrived  for  defence. 

It  was  in  a  chamber  of  this  historic  house  that 
Giovanni  de'  Medici,  afterwards  Pope  Leo  X.,  first 
saw  the  light  on  nth  December,  1475.  Of  his  sire, 
the  Magnificent  Lorenzo — uncrowned  king  of  Florence, 
genial  tyrant  of  an  adoring  populace,  statesman,  diplo- 
matist, banker,  scholar,  poet — it  will  be  superfluous  to 
speak ;  his  mother,  Clarice  Orsini,  a  member  of  the 
haughty  feudal  Roman  house,  was  the  first  "foreign" 
bride  to  enter  the  portals  of  the  Medicean  palace.  She 
was  a  good  woman  and  a  faithful  wife,  but  in  intellect 
the  inferior  of  her  brilliant  consort,  whose  versatile  nature 
and  marvellous  powers  often  puzzled  or  alarmed  her. 
But  she  had  at  least  the  merit  of  bestowing  on  her 
second  son  the  pontifical  name  by  which  all  the  world 
speaks  and  thinks  of  Giovanni  di  Lorenzo  de'  Medici. 
For  on  the  night  before  her  infant  was  born  the  good 


6  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Clarice  had  a  dream,  wherein  she  imagined  herself  seized 
with  pangs  of  childbirth  in  the  Florentine  Duomo,  and 
delivered  of  a  huge  but  most  docile  lion  instead  of  the 
expected  infant.1  Man  has  always  been  a  superstitious 
animal,  and  in  the  year  1475  dreams  such  as  Clarice's 
were  taken  very  seriously  indeed  as  intentional  warn- 
ings or  compliments  from  the  Unseen,  so  that  there  can 
be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  Giovanni  de'  Medici  on 
being  elected  to  fill  the  papal  throne  in  after  years  chose 
his  official  title  of  Leo  X.  out  of  deference  to  his  mother's 
nightmare,  over  the  mystical  meaning  of  which  he  had 
probably  often  pondered. 

Of  the  little  Giovanni's  brothers  and  sisters  we  must 
speak  one  word.  First,  there  was  Piero,  the  heir,  who 
was  four  years  old  at  Giovanni's  birth,  and  last  there 
was  Giuliano,  born  in  the  year  of  the  Pazzi  conspiracy 
and  so  named  after  his  ill-fated  uncle.  Then  there  were 
the  four  sisters — Lucrezia,  Maddalena,  Contessina  and 
Luisa — of  whom  the  three  first-named  were  married  re- 
spectively to  a  Cybo,  a  Salviati,  and  a  Ridolfi  ;  whilst 
Luisa  died  prematurely  on  the  eve  of  her  nuptials  with 
Giovanni,  son  of  Pier-Francesco  de'  Medici,  head  of  the 
younger  branch  of  the  Medicean  House.  To  his  chil- 
dren, Lorenzo  always  showed  himself  an  affectionate  and 
indulgent  father,  even  condescending  on  occasions  to 
take  part  in  their  noisy  games  of  the  nursery  :  a  circum- 
stance that  the  merciless  Machiavelli  records  with  a  sneer 
in  the  pages  of  his  Florentine  history — "  he  would  for- 
get the  dignity  of  his  office  in  romping  with  his  children, 
for  he  would  oftentimes  indulge  in  any  idle  or  childish 
amusement  they  might  put  him  to".  Nevertheless,  most 
persons  will  agree  with  a  modern  French  critic,  who  de- 

1  Jovius,  lib.  i. 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  IN  FLORENCE  7 

clares  that  never  could  the  great  Lorenzo  have  shown 
"himself  more  human  or  more  lovable  than  when  playing 
at  soldiers  with  Piero  and  Giuliano,  or  rolling  on  the 
floor  with  the  future  Leo  X. 

Giovanni  must  have  been  far  too  young  to  remember 
the  conspiracy  of  the  Pazzi  with  its  terrible  scenes,  when 
the  mangled  corpse  of  his  uncle  Giuliano  was  borne  from 
the  cathedral  to  the  palace  that  was  surrounded  by 
angry  crowds  calling  for  summary  vengeance  on  the 
murderers,  and  professing  boundless  devotion  towards 
their  surviving  ruler,  who  had  escaped  the  assassin's 
knife  as  though  by  a  miracle.  Later,  perhaps,  he  may 
have  recalled  an  addition  to  the  Medicean  nursery  in  a 
little  dark-eyed  boy  with  the  name  of  Giulio,  the  bastard 
son  of  the  murdered  Giuliano,  who  was  sometimes 
brought  to  share  the  lessons  and  amusements  of  Lorenzo's 
own  children.  In  any  case  he  must  have  been  conscious 
of  the  change  of  scene  from  busy  crowded  Florence  to 
the  quiet  and  solitude  of  the  family  estate  of  Caffagiolo, 
whither  the  Magnificent  despatched  his  household  for 
safety  after  the  Conjuration  of  the  Pazzi.  The  dark 
forests  of  pine  and  fir,  the  fleecy  flocks,  the  rough  but 
kindly  shepherds  of  the  hills,  the  keen  air  of  the  wind- 
grieved  Apennines,  must  have  had  their  early  influence  on 
any  son  of  Lorenzo  the  Poet,  who  loved  dearly  the  life 
and  people  of  the  Tuscan  country-side.  But  in  strange 
contrast  with  the  rural  surroundings  of  airy  Caffagiolo  on 
its  distant  mountain-top  must  have  seemed  the  conversa- 
tions overheard  by  the  sharp  ears  of  the  children  between 
their  tutor,  Angelo  Poliziano,  and  the  handsome  young 
Pico  della  Mirandola,  or  the  abstruse  arguments  indulged 
in  by  their  father  with  the  learned  Marsilio  Ficino  on  the 
chance  occasions  when  Lorenzo  was  able  to  join  his 
family  in  their  country  retreat.  But  more  often  Politian 


8  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

was  left  alone  with  his  charges  and  their  mother,  whose 
views  by  no  means  coincided  with  those  of  their  chosen 
preceptor.  Fiercely  did  the  anxious  Clarice  wrangle 
with  Politian  over  the  methods  of  education,  which  she 
wanted  to  be  conducted  on  her  old-fashioned  lines,  the 
tutor  complaining  meanwhile  to  Madonna  Lucrezia, 
Lorenzo's  mother,  a  Tornabuoni  by  birth,  to  whom  in 
an  amusing  letter  he  sends  a  comically  dismal  account 
of  the  daily  life  at  Caffagiolo,  which  was  by  no  means  a 
residence  to  the  taste  of  the  fastidious  scholar. 

"  The  only  news  I  can  send  you  is  that  we  have  here 
such  continual  rains  that  it  is  impossible  to  quit  the  house, 
and  the  exercises  of  the  country  are  exchanged  for 
childish  sports  within  doors.  Here  I  stand  by  the  fire- 
side in  my  great  coat  and  slippers,  so  that  you  might 
take  me  for  the  very  figure  of  Melancholy.  .  .  .  Were 
we  in  Florence,  we  should  have  some  consolation,  were 
it  only  for  that  of  seeing  Lorenzo,  when  he  returned 
home ;  but  here  we  are  in  continual  anxiety,  and  I  for 
my  part  am  half-dead  with  solitude  and  weariness.  The 
plague  and  the  war  are  incessantly  in  my  mind.  I  lament 
past  evils,  and  I  have  no  longer  at  my  side  my  dear 
Madonna  Lucrezia,  to  whom  I  might  unbosom  my 
cares."1 

But  besides  complaining  thus  to  Madonna  Lucrezia, 
the  spoiled  Humanist  does  not  scruple  to  upbraid  Clarice 
to  her  own  husband  for  wasting  the  time  of  his  most 
promising  pupil,  the  precocious  little  Giovanni,  by  forcing 
him  to  squander  his  newly-acquired  power  of  reading  in 
spelling  through  the  Psalms  of  David  instead  of  the 
masterpieces  of  antiquity.  That  the  mother  and  tutor 
of  Lorenzo's  children  were  on  the  worst  possible  terms 

1  Roscoe,  Life  of  Lorenzo  de"  Medici t  Appendix  LIX. 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  IN  FLORENCE  9 

at  lonely  Caffagiolo  is  evident  from  one  of  Clarice's 
letters,  wherein  she  relates  her  side  of  the  case  with  re- 
gard to  the  thorny  question  of  education,  nor  does  she 
shrink  from  abusing  Lorenzo's  favourite  poet  and  com- 
panion to  her  husband. 

"...  I  do  not  like  Messer  Angelo  Poliziano  threaten- 
ing to  remain  in  the  house  in  spite  of  me.  You  re- 
member I  told  you,  that  if  it  was  your  wzY/he  should  stay, 
I  was  perfectly  contented ;  and  although  I  have  suffered 
infinite  abuse  from  him,  yet  if  it  be  with  your  consent, 
I  am  satisfied.  But  I  cannot  believe  this  to  be  the 
case."1 

At  length  Lorenzo,  growing  weary  of  these  appeals 
and  bickerings,  advised  Politian  to  withdraw  to  the  villa 
below  Fiesole,  where  he  quickly  recovered  his  equanimity 
and  spent  a  profitable  time  in  composing  his  Rusticus,  a 
charming  Latin  poem  that  his  contemporaries  did  not 
hesitate  to  compare  with  the  Georgics  of  Vergil. 

With  unerring  instinct  Lorenzo  had  already  perceived 
his  second  son's  talents,  and  had  decided  to  turn  them  to 
the  advantage  of  his  House  and  his  policy,  so  that  the 
little  Giovanni  was  accordingly  marked  out  for  an  ecclesi- 
astical career  almost  from  his  infancy.  Before  reaching 
his  seventh  birthday  the  child  received  the  tonsure — the 
solemn  shaving  of  the  scalp  which  notified  his  entry  into 
the  Church,  and  he  was  at  the  same  time  declared 
capable  of  preferment,  whereupon  Louis  XI.  of  France, 
to  whom  Lorenzo  had  communicated  his  intention,  at 
once  presented  the  boy  with  the  abbey  of  Fonte  Dolce, 
and  even  promised  him  the  see  of  Aix,  until  it  was  un- 
expectedly realised  that  its  archbishop  was  still  living. 
A  canonry  in  each  cathedral-church  of  Tuscany  was 

1  Roscoe,  Appendix  LXI. 


10  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

promptly  bestowed  on  this  infantile  pluralist,  and  even 
Pope  Sixtus  IV.,  that  implacable  foe  of  the  House  of 
Medici,  granted  him  a  little  later  the  rich  convent  of 
Passignano.  A  detailed  list  of  this  child's  benefices 
would  prove  wearisome,  but  we  may  mention  that  he 
held  twenty -seven  separate  offices,  of  which  the  abbeys 
of  Fonte  Dolce,  Passignano  and  Monte  Cassino  were 
the  most  lucrative.  No  wonder  then  that  the  learned 
Fabroni,  Leo's  first  modern  biographer,  exclaims  in 
horrified  amazement,  "  Dear  Lord,  what  a  mass  of 
benefices  concentrated  in  one  single  youth !  "  Yet  it  is 
difficult  to  dissent  from  Roscoe's  shrewd  criticism  on  such 
a  scandal,  that  it  is  of  small  consequence  whether  such 
preferment  be  bestowed  upon  an  infant  who  is  unable, 
or  upon  an  adult  who  is  unwilling,  to  perform  the  re- 
quisite duties.1 

In  the  following  year,  1483,  this  young  ecclesiastic 
was  confirmed  by  the  bishop  of  Arezzo  in  the  beautiful 
Medicean  chapel  with  its  Gozzoli  frescoes  ;  a  circumstance 
which  Lorenzo  naively  mentions  in  his  Ricordi:— 

"  On  the  nineteenth  day  of  May,  1483,  we  received  in- 
telligence that  the  King  of  France  had  of  his  own  motion 
presented  to  my  son  Giovanni  the  abbey  of  Fonte  Dolce. 
On  the  thirty -first  we  heard  from  Rome  that  the  Pope 
had  confirmed  the  grant,  and  had  rendered  him  capable 
of  holding  benefices,  he  being  now  seven  years  of  age. 
On  the  first  day  of  June,  Giovanni  accompanied  me  from 
Poggio  a  Cajano  to  Florence,  where  he  was  confirmed  by 
the  bishop  of  Arezzo,  and  received  the  tonsure,  and  from 
henceforth  was  called  Messire  Giovanni.  This  ceremony 
took  place  in  the  chapel  of  our  family." 

But  it  is  needless  to  add  that  Lorenzo  had  far  more 

1Roscoe,  chap,  i.,  pp.  10,  n. 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  IN  FLORENCE          n 

ambitious  ends  in  view  than  the  mere  obtaining  of  rich 
sees  and  abbeys  for  his  second,  who  was  perhaps  his 
favourite,  son.  His  many  experiences  of  the  Protean 
changes  in  Italian  politics,  of  which  he  was  now  be- 
coming the  acknowledged  moderator — "  the  beam  of  the 
Italian  scales" — had  already  impressed  upon  his  marvel- 
lous mind  the  paramount  importance  of  a  close  connec- 
tion between  his  own  House  and  the  Papacy.  The 
preponderance  of  Italian  influence  in  Lorenzo's  days  was 
divided  between  the  duchy  of  Milan  and  the  republic  of 
Venice  in  Northern  Italy,  and  the  kingdom  of  Naples 
and  the  Papacy  in  the  south,  whilst  in  the  centre  the 
wealthy  commercial  state  of  Florence  under  the  judicious 
sway  of  Lorenzo  himself  had  for  some  time  past  managed 
to  keep  the  balance  of  power  between  the  jarring  ele- 
ments of  North  and  South,  and  to  prevent  any  dangerous 
combinations  amongst  the  four  leading  states,  whose  in- 
trigues also  shaped  the  policy  of  the  smaller  Italian  cities 
such  as  Mantua,  Ferrara,  Siena,  Bologna  and  the  like. 
But  dangerous  and  tangled  as  was  the  skein  of  political 
threads  held  in  Milan,  Naples,  Venice  and  the  minor 
capitals,  it  was  the  uncertain  action  of  the  Papacy  which 
the  ruler  of  Florence  had  most  cause  to  dread.  For  it 
had  been  the  unconcealed  hostility  of  Sixtus  IV.  that 
had  made  the  Pazzi  conspiracy  possible,  and  it  was  also 
the  same  Pope's  aggression  that  had  later  forced  Lorenzo 
to  risk  his  life  at  the  court  of  the  treacherous  Ferdinand 
of  Naples  on  his  famous  diplomatic  mission  of  1480. 
From  a  repetition  of  past  dangers  at  the  hands  of  the 
Pope,  Lorenzo  had  fully  determined  to  guard  himself  by 
obtaining  the  admission  of  his  younger  son  into  the 
College  of  Cardinals,  whenever  a  favourable  opportunity 
might  present  itself.  This  attempt  to  obtain  the  scarlet 
hat  for  Giovanni  de'  Medici  was  therefore  as  much  an 


12  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

act  of  political  foresight  as  an  object  of  mere  family  ag- 
grandisement, since  a  Medicean  Cardinal  would  not 
only  help  to  raise  the  prestige  of  the  burgher  House, 
already  allied  with  a  proud  Roman  family,  but  he  would 
also  be  able  to  influence  the  policy  of  the  Sacred  College 
and  the  shifting  aims  of  successive  Popes. 

So  long  as  Sixtus  IV.  sat  in  St.  Peter's  chair,  such 
an  ambition  could  remain  only  a  day-dream,  but  on  1 3th 
August,  1484,  the  Delia  Rovere  Pope,  so  dreaded  by 
Lorenzo,  expired  unloved  and  unlamented.  The  sub- 
sequent election  of  Giambattista  Cybo  with  the  title  of 
Innocent  VIII.  now  placed  a  personal  as  well  as  a  political 
friend  on  the  pontifical  throne,  so  that  a  rare  chance  pre- 
sented itself  to  Lorenzo  to  push  his  intentions  at  the 
Roman  court.  Two  serious  obstacles  lay  in  the  way  of 
his  cherished  scheme ;  the  feeble  health  of  the  aged 
Pontiff,  whose  tenure  of  the  dignity  did  not  promise  to 
be  of  long  duration,  and  the  extreme  youth  of  Lorenzo's 
own  little  Cardinal  in  petto.  Yet  nothing  daunted,  the 
Magnificent  at  once  began  eagerly  to  press  his  request 
upon  the  new  Pope,  although  the  latter  was  naturally,  in 
spite  of  his  regard  for  the  father,  extremely  loth  to  no- 
minate his  infant  son  a  prince  of  the  Church.  In  fact, 
at  his  election  Innocent  had  in  the  conclave  not  only 
promised  never  to  admit  any  candidate  to  the  Sacred 
College  who  was  under  thirty  years  of  age,  but  also  not 
to  create  any  more  members  of  the  College  itself  until 
its  numbers  were  in  the  course  of  nature  reduced  to 
twenty-four.  These  restrictions,  absurd  and  illegal  as 
they  undoubtedly  were,  the  new-made  Pope  could  hardly 
have  been  expected  to  comply  with  strictly,  yet  certainly 
Giovanni's  proposed  elevation  constituted  an  extreme 
case.  To  raise  a  mere  child  to  the  highest  rank  in  the 
Church,  even  in  that  age  of  universal  corruption,  would 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  IN  FLORENCE  13 

have  caused  a  grave  scandal ;  nevertheless,  Innocent 
wavered  between  the  fear  of  offending  the  Sacred  College 
and  a  warm  desire  to  serve  his  true  friend,  Lorenzo,  who 
kept  on  demanding  this  boon  from  the  Pontiff  "with  no 
less  fervency  than  he  would  have  asked  of  God  the 
salvation  of  his  soul  ".*  So  eager  and  intimate  an  appeal 
the  scruples  or  fears  of  Innocent  were  unable  to  with- 
stand, especially  since  in  the  previous  year  the  existing 
ties  between  the  Houses  of  Medici  and  Cybo  had  been 
drawn  closer  by  the  union  of  the  Pope's  son,  Francesco 
Cybo,  with  Lorenzo's  daughter  Maddalena.  Besides 
arranging  this  marriage  between  the  two  families,  Lorenzo 
had  left  no  stone  unturned  to  obtain  his  desired  end.  By 
means  of  his  envoy  Lanfredini  at  the  Roman  court, 
the  two  leading  cardinals,  Roderigo  Borgia,  whose  name 
was  soon  to  become  notorious  throughout  Christendom, 
and  Ascanio  Sforza,  brother  of  the  usurper  of  Milan, 
were  approached  on  this  delicate  matter.  Both  cardinals 
worked  diligently  on  little  Giovanni's  behalf,  especially 
the  cardinal  of  Milan,  until  the  Pope,  wearied  out  by  this 
judicious  policy  of  alternate  teasing  and  flattery,  finally 
complied  with  Lorenzo's  wishes,  so  ardently  expressed. 
On  8th  March,  1489,  therefore,  Giovanni  de'  Medici  was 
formally  nominated  a  Cardinal  Deacon  by  the  title  of 
Santa  Maria  in  Domenica,  the  small  antique  church 
that  stands  to-day  half-hidden  amidst  the  vineyards  and 
acacia  groves  of  the  deserted  Coelian  Hill.  The  Cardinal 
de  Balue,  Louis  XL's  minister,  writing  after  the  con- 
sistory to  Lorenzo  in  Florence,  thus  announces  the  joyful 
news:  "O  happy  man,  what  a  blessing  and  what  an 
honour  for  your  most  reverend  son,  for  your  own  Magni- 
ficence, and  for  the  city  of  Florence !  "2  But  supreme  as 

1  Fabroni,  Appendix  II.  2  Ibid. 


i4  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

was  Lorenzo's  satisfaction  on  receipt  of  this  news,  his 
transports  of  joy  were  not  a  little  tempered  by  certain  re- 
strictions which  accompanied  his  son's  admission  into  the 
College.  In  the  first  place,  Innocent — very  reasonably 
and  properly  it  will  be  admitted — refused  to  allow  the 
new-made  thirteen-year-old  Cardinal  to  wear  the  vest- 
ments or  exercise  any  of  the  privileges  of  his  rank  for  the 
space  of  at  least  three  years.  Lorenzo's  irritation  was  ex- 
treme at  this  command,  but  in  spite  of  shrewd  arguments 
and  persistent  entreaties  the  Pope,  to  his  credit,  remained 
unshaken  in  his  resolve.  Another  stipulation  made  by 
the  Pope,  who  evidently  did  not  consider  the  education 
of  a  Humanist  as  altogether  sufficient  for  a  cardinal,  was 
that  Giovanni  should  quit  Florence  immediately  in  order 
to  study  canon  law  at  Pisa  during  his  three  years  of  pro- 
bation. Accordingly  the  boy  was  sent  to  Pisa,  that 
magnificent  failure  amongst  the  historic  cities  of  mediaeval 
Italy,  which  had  lately  been  endowed  with  an  university 
by  Lorenzo  himself.  For  the  brooding  quiet  of  the 
famous  but  derelict  old  city,  the  cheapness  of  lodging 
within  its  walls,  and  its  central  position  near  the  coast- 
line midway  between  Rome  and  Genoa,  had  already 
made  Pisa  a  flourishing  seat  of  learning.  Here  then 
the  future  Pontiff  studied  diligently  under  Decio,  Soz- 
zini  and  other  learned  professors,  recently  nominated 
to  the  various  chairs  of  Pisa  by  his  father,  whilst  his 
household  was  managed  for  him  by  a  young  scholar  of 
great  promise,  whose  career  was  from  this  time  onward 
bound  up  closely  with  that  of  his  brilliant  pupil,  who  was 
but  five  years  his  junior.  This  was  no  less  a  person 
than  Bernardo  Dovizi  of  Bibbiena,  whose  shrewd  face 
is  so  familiar  to  us  from  Raphael's  splendid  portrait 
in  the  Pitti  Gallery  at  Florence,  and  whose  attain- 
ments will  ever  shed  reflected  glory  on  the  humble 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  IN  FLORENCE  15 

village  amongst  the  Tuscan  uplands  that  gave  him 
birth  : — 

Fk  nota  per  costui,  dicea,  Bibbiena, 
Quanto  Fiorenza,  sua  vicina,  e  Siena.1 

« 

Meanwhile  Lorenzo  himself,  already  ailing  in  the  prime 
of  life,  was  kept  in  a  perpetual  fever  of  suspense  for  fear 
the  Pope  might  die  before  the  close  of  this  probationary 
period,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  continual 
anxiety  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  Magnificent's  pre- 
mature decease.  Nor  was  he  idle  in  urging  Innocent, 
by  means  of  his  ambassadors  in  Rome,  to  withdraw  the 
odious  conditions,  so  as  to  allow  his  son  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  his  rank.  But  the  Pope  continued  to  shut  his 
ears  to  all  appeals  and  arguments,  so  that  Lorenzo  had 
to  rest  content  with  vague  assurances  of  the  Pontiff's 
good-will.  "  Leave  the  fortunes  of  Messire  Giovanni 
to  me,"  replied  Innocent  to  Piero  Alamanni's  entreaties 
on  his  master's  behalf;  "for  I  look  upon  him  as  my  own 
son  and  shall  perhaps  make  his  promotion  public  when 
you  least  expect  it,  for  it  is  my  intention  to  do  much 
more  for  his  interests  than  I  shall  now  express."5 

Such  promises  proved  cold  comfort  to  Lorenzo,  ever 
intriguing  to  shake  Innocent's  fixed  resolve,  and  ever 
dreading  each  post  from  Rome  lest  it  might  bring  tidings 
of  the  old  Pope's  death,  in  the  event  of  which  he  foresaw 
only  too  clearly  the  certain  collapse  of  all  his  secret 
schemes.  For  it  was  highly  probable  that  a  new  Pontiff, 
if  a  virtuous  reformer  like  Pius  II.,  would  postpone  for 
many  years  the  desired  consummation ;  whilst  a  bad 
Pope  of  the  type  of  his  old  enemy  Sixtus  would  either 
extort  an  immense  sum  for  bestowing  the  hat  or  else 
try  to  repudiate  altogether  the  promises  made  by 

1  Ariosto,  Orlando  Furioso,  canto  xxvi.,  st.  48. 
2Fabroni,  Jn  vita  Laurentii  Medicei,  p.  301. 


1 6  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Innocent  with  regard  to  a  child  of  thirteen.      Nor  were 

o 

Lorenzo's  fears  of  failure  unfounded,  for,  as  we  shall  see, 
the  papal  permission  arrived  only  a  few  weeks  before 
his  own  decease ;  in  short,  but  for  the  frantic  efforts  of 
Lorenzo,  Giovanni  de'  Medici  would  never  have  received 
the  scarlet  hat,  and  the  world's  history  would  have  lacked 
the  pontificate  of  Leo  X. 

At  length  the  day  so  anxiously  expected  by  Lorenzo 
arrived,  and  on  the  evening  of  8th  March,  1492,  the 
young  Cardinal,  now  aged  sixteen  years  and  three 
months,  left  Florence  with  a  small  train  to  ascend  to  the 
ancient  abbey  that  stands  on  the  fertile  slopes  below 
Fiesole.  This  church,  commonly  known  as  the  Badia 
Fiesolana,  adorns  the  left  ridge  of  the  vine-  and  willow- 
clad  valley  of  the  Mugnone,  and  lies  within  a  few  hundred 
yards  of  the  better-known  convent  of  San  Domenico 
with  its  cherished  memories  of  Fra  Angelico.  The 
Badia  itself,  with  its  tall  tower  and  its  picturesque  fa9ade 
of  black  and  white  marble,  had  long  been  associated  with 
the  name  and  bounty  of  the  Medici,  so  that  it  made  a 
suitable  spot  for  the  intended  ceremony  of  investiture, 
which,  probably  owing  to  Lorenzo's  ill-health,  it  had  been 
decided  to  make  as  simple  and  brief  as  possible.  Within 
the  walls,  therefore,  of  this  church  distinguished  by  the 
gifts  and  emblems  of  his  ancestors,  Giovanni  spent  a 
long  night's  vigil  in  solitary  prayer,  until  with  the  dawn 
appeared  on  the  scene  Pico  della  Mirandola  and  Jacopo 
Salviati,  together  with  Messer  Simone  Stanza,  the  public 
notary.  The  young  Cardinal  now  received  the  Sacra- 
ment "with  the  greatest  devotion  and  humility,"  after 
which  High  Mass  was  sung.  During  the  performance 
of  the  service  the  Superior  of  the  Abbey  pronounced 
a  blessing  on  the  insignia  of  Giovanni's  rank — \hepallium 
or  mantle,  the  biretum  or  scarlet  cap,  and  the  galerus, 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  IN  FLORENCE  17 

the  broad-brimmed  hat  with  the  long  depending  tassels 
— and  these  were  exposed  before  the  high  altar.  In  its 
proper  place  the  papal  brief  of  1489  was  read  aloud,  and 
attention  was  openly  drawn  to  the  circumstance  that  the 
probationary  term  of  three  years  had  at  last  expired. 
Then  the  Cardinal  was  solemnly  vested  with  mantle, 
cap  and  hat  of  scarlet,  and  also  with  the  sapphire  ring 
(emblematic  of  the  Church's  celestial  foundation)  at  the 
hands  of  Canon  Matteo  Bosso,  from  whose  personal 
narrative  this  account  is  largely  drawn.1  The  choir 
having  sung  the  hymn  Veni  Creator  Spiritus,  the  youth- 
ful Cardinal  stood  up  to  pronounce  an  indulgence  upon 
all  who  had  attended  the  ceremony  that  day,  and  also 
upon  all  such  as  should  repair  to  the  altar  of  the  Badia 
Fiesolana  on  succeeding  anniversaries  of  the  event. 
Returning  to  the  refectory,  the  assembled  company  was 
now  joined  by  Piero  de'  Medici,  who  had  ridden  up  from 
the  city  on  a  charger  of  remarkable  size  and  spirit." 
Meanwhile  an  immense  crowd  of  friends  and  sympathisers 
was  beginning  to  ascend  the  old  Fiesole  road  in  order  to 
witness  the  ceremony,  which  was  already  finished  at  so 
early  an  hour ;  but  this  eager  throng's  progress  was 
arrested  at  the  bridge  over  the  Mugnone,  where  all 
persons  were  compelled  to  await  the  return  of  the  two 
brothers  and  their  chosen  suite.  At  the  Ponte  di  Mugnone 
therefore  the  cavalcade  coming  from  Fiesole  was  duly 
welcomed  by  deputations  of  the  leading  citizens,  by  the 
whole  body  of  the  Florentine  clergy,  and  by  the  general 
mass  of  the  people,  who  with  cheers  and  demands  for  a 
blessing  from  the  newly-vested  Cardinal,  accompanied 
Piero  and  Giovanni  to  the  church  of  the  Anunziata, 
where  the  latter  alighted  from  his  mule  to  perform  his 

1  Narrative  of  'Canon  Matteo  Bosso  of  Verona,  Fabroni,  Appendix  V. 

2  Ibid.,  "  Equus  mirae  ferocitatis  et  magnitudinis  ". 


1 8  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

orisons  at  the  Madonna's  famous  shrine  ;  thence  to  the 
Duomo,  where  more  prayers  were  offered  up  ;  and  finally 
to  the  Medicean  palace,  where  Lorenzo,  sickening  with 
his  mortal  illness,  was  impatiently  awaiting  his  younger 
son's  return.  Here  the  Cardinal  was  presented  with  a 
costly  service  of  plate,  said  to  be  valued  at  20,000  florins, 
by  order  of  the  Signory.  Shows  and  banquets,  that 
occasioned  much  grumbling  amongst  the  political  oppo- 
nents of  the  Medici,  were  given  at  the  public  expense  in 
honour  of  the  event,  which  in  the  words  of  the  republican 
chemist,  Luca  Landucci,  "ennobled  the  city  as  well  as 
the  House  of  Medici".1 

The  meeting  between  Giovanni  and  his  father  on 
this  occasion  has  been  commemorated  for  us  in  one  of 
Giorgio  Vasari's  frescoes  in  the  Sala  di  Lorenzo  it 
Magnifico  in  the  civic  palace  of  Florence.  Although 
not  of  contemporary  date,  this  composition  is  of  ex- 
ceptional interest,  because  it  affords  us  one  of  the  very 
few  extant  portraits  of  Leo  X.  in  his  boyhood.  Lorenzo 
in  a  long  violet  robe  appears  seated  on  a  throne  in  a 
garden ;  languid  and  suffering,  he  can  yet  regard  with 
proud  satisfaction  the  son  who  kneels  at  his  feet  dressed 
in  the  gorgeous  robes  of  a  cardinal,  and  offering  his 
scarlet  hat  to  the  parent  whose  indefatigable  efforts  had 
obtained  for  him  so  high  an  honour.  Beside  the  form 
of  Lorenzo  are  introduced  Politian,  Ficino  and  other 
members  of  his  court,  whilst  a  warrior  waves  aloft  a 
white  banner  emblazoned  with  the  Magnificent's  chosen 
device  of  three  ostrich  plumes,  red,  white  and  black, 
clasped  by  a  diamond  ring.  Above  this  group  towers 
the  strange  head  of  the  giraffe  which  the  Grand  Turk 
presented  to  Lorenzo,  and  the  like  of  which,  so  Jovius 

1  Landucci,  pp.  62,  63. 


CARDINAL   DE'    MEDICI   AND   HIS    FATHER,    LORENZO   THE   MAGNIFICENT 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  IN  FLORENCE  19 

informs  us,  neither  the  Portuguese  could  discover  in  the 
Indies  nor  the  Spaniards  in  the  New  World.1  True  it 
is  that  the  spotted  ungainly  creature,  which  for  some 
months  had  been  the  pet  of  the  Florentine  populace, 
succumbed  to  the  sharp  Tuscan  climate  many  years 
before  the  event  thus  commemorated,  yet  Vasari  deemed 
it  not  beneath  his  dignity  as  a  painter  to  introduce  this 
departed  favourite  of  the  people  into  the  scheme  of  his 
historical  picture.  Giovanni  himself  appears  as  a  tall 
stripling  with  light  brown  hair  and  a  fair  complexion, 
whilst  a  medallion  portrait  in  the  same  hall  likewise 
presents  him  as  a  youth  with  a  pale  heavy  face,  with 
flabby  cheeks  and  light  hazel  eyes.  From  the  peculiar 
angle  at  which  every  portrait  of  the  future  Pope  has 
been  drawn,  it  is  evident  that  Giovanni  must  have 
possessed  a  blemish  of  some  sort  in  the  right  eye  :  in 
any  case  it  is  certain  that  even  in  these  early  years  he 
did  not  share  the  good  looks  of  his  brothers,  although 
his  countenance  must  have  been  singularly  attractive 
from  its  marked  expression  of  intelligence  and  humour. 
But  already  at  sixteen  Giovanni  de'  Medici  gave  only 
too  evident  promise  of  that  corpulence  of  body  which 
was  destined  to  become  in  after-life  so  great  a  hin- 
drance to  the  health  and  comfort  of  the  Pope. 

Three  days  later  Giovanni  bade  farewell  to  his 
father  and  brothers,  and  with  a  well-equipped  train  of 
followers  took  the  road  towards  Rome.  Travelling  by 
easy  stages,  which  included  halts  at  his  own  abbey  of 
Passignano,  at  Siena  and  Viterbo,  he  finally  arrived  at 
the  Flaminian  Gate  of  the  Eternal  City  on  22nd  March. 
Here  he  took  up  his  temporary  abode  in  the  Augustinian 
convent  of  Santa  Maria  del  Popolo — famous  in  after 

1  Jovius,  lib.  i. 


20  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

years  as  the  residence  of  Luther  during  his  visit  to  Rome 
— and  made  his  preparations  for  his  approaching  audi- 
ence of  the  Pope. 

Amongst  the  Italian  cardinals  then  residing  in  Rome 
during  that  momentous  year  1492,  Giovanni  de'  Medici 
was  likely  to  find  some  friends,  notably  in  the  powerful 
Roderigo  Borgia,  papal  vice-chancellor,  and  in  Ascanio 
Sforza,  both  of  whom  had  helped  considerably  in  the 
matter  of  his  own  promotion.  He  could  scarcely  expect 
much  sympathy  from  the  two  nephews  of  the  late  Pope, 
Giuliano  Delia  Rovere  and  Raffaele  Riario,  the  latter  of 
whom  had  been  Sixtus'  envoy  at  the  time  of  the  Pazzi 
conspiracy,  and  had  actually  been  present  at  that 
historic  service  in  the  Florentine  Cathedral,  whereat 
Giuliano  de'  Medici  had  been  stabbed  to  death  by  in- 
numerable dagger  thrusts.  According  to  vulgar  report, 
Riario  had  not  yet  fully  recovered  from  the  alarm  and 
horror  of  that  terrible  scene,  whilst  his  nervous  pallid 
face  bore  lasting  witness  to  that  abominable  act  of 
mingled  sacrilege  and  treachery.  Lorenzo  Cybo, 
Innocent's  own  son,  would  of  course  be  well-disposed  to 
the  new-comer,  whilst  out  of  the  all-too-few  members 
of  the  College  who  were  conspicuous  for  genuine  piety 
or  learning,  the  Cardinal  Piccolomini,  nephew  of  Pius 
II.,  and  Oliviero  Caraffa.  of  Naples,  were  naturally  in- 
clined to  take  an  interest  in  the  proper  development  of 
Giovanni's  still  unformed  character.  And  though  some 

O 

members  of  the  diminished  College  were '  disposed  to 
regard  their  new  brother  with  disfavour,  such  persons 
with  easy  Italian  duplicity  concealed  their  private 
feelings,  and  openly  at  least  appeared  ready  to  extend 
a  warm  welcome  to  their  young  Florentine  colleague. 
Thus  did  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  Cardinal  Deacon  of 
Santa  Maria  in  Domenica,  make  his  first  appearance 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  IN  FLORENCE  21 

at  the  age  of  sixteen  in  the  midst  of  "that  sink  of  ini- 
quity," as  Lorenzo  did  not  scruple  in  private  to  describe 
the  seat  of  Western  Christendom  ;  and  his  first  letter 
telling  of  his  arrival  and  early  experiences  in  Rome  to 
his  anxious  father  in  Florence,  although  couched  in 
simples  rather  childish  terms,  is  not  without  human 
interest. 

"  To  LORENZO  THE  MAGNIFICENT,  BEST  OF  FATHERS  IN 

FLORENCE 

"...  On  Friday  morning  I  was  received  in 
state,  being  accompanied  from  Santa  Maria  del  Poplo  as 
far  as  the  palace,  and  from  the  palace  back  to  the  Campo 
de'  Fiori  by  all  the  Cardinals,  and  by  nearly  the  whole 
court,  although  it  was  raining  heavily.  I  was  warmly 
welcomed  by  Our  Lord ;  he  spoke  scarcely  a  word,  but 
the  following  day  our  envoys  visited  him,  and  they  had 
a  most  gracious  audience  of  him.  The  Pope  set  aside 
the  next  day  for  my  own  reception,  that  is  to-day. 
Thither  I  went,  and  His  Holiness  addressed  me  in  as 
loving  a  manner  as  possible.  He  has  reminded  me,  and 
also  exhorted  me  to  return  the  Cardinals'  visits,  and 
this  I  have  begun  to  do  in  the  case  of  all  who  have 
visited  me.  I  shall  write  another  day  to  tell  you  who 
they  all  are  ;  they  profess  themselves  to  be  very  well 
disposed  towards  yourself.  Of  all  matters  that  passed, 
I  know  you  are  fully  informed.  I  shall  write  nothing 
more  concerning  myself,  except  that  I  shall  ever  strive 
to  do  you  credit.  De  me  proloqui  ulterius,  nefas. 
The  news  of  your  much  improved  state  of  health 
has  given  me  great  joy.  I  have  no  further  desire 
for  myself  except  to  hear  such  good  tidings  often, 
and  for  this  recent  information  I  beg  to  thank  my 


22  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

brother,  Ser  Piero.     I  recommend  myself  to  you.     No 
more. 

"  JOHN,  YOUR  SON 

"Ax  ROME,  25/^5  March,  1492  J>1 

It  was  probably  on  receipt  of  this  simple  missive  from 
his  second-born  in  Rome  that  Lorenzo  indited  that 
famous  letter  of  advice,  which  the  good  Fabroni  eloquently 
calls  the  Magnificent's  swan -song  ("vox  cycnea"),  seeing 
that  it  was  composed  within  a  very  few  days  of  his 
premature  death  at  the  age  of  forty-two ;  and  indeed, 
apart  from  the  intrinsic  value  of  this  epistle,  such  a 
circumstance  would  naturally  lend  it  a  pathetic  interest. 
However  early  in  life  Lorenzo's  physical  powers  may 
have  sunk  beneath  the  fearful  strain  of  his  public  and 
private  cares,  this  letter  provides  the  fullest  proof  that 
his  marvellous  and  versatile  intellect  continued  unim- 
paired to  the  last.  It  was  indeed  a  swan-song  of  peculiar 
strength  and  sweetness,  wherein  excellent  spiritual  advice, 
not  unworthy  of  a  Fenelon,  was  so  blended  with  worldly 
maxims  that  a  Chesterfield  might  have  penned,  that  it  is 
well-nigh  impossible  to  separate  its  component  elements 
of  an  exhortation  to  a  Churchman's  strict  morality  and  of 
a  subtle  suggestion  to  turn  an  ecclesiastical  career  to  the 
private  interests  of  the  House  of  Medici.  That  a  careful 
perusal  of  this  remarkable  letter  is  essential  to  the  student 
of  Leo  X.'s  career,  it  is  needless  to  state ;  whilst  it  is  of 
special  interest  to  note  the  extent  to  which  the  young 
Cardinal,  for  whose  future  guidance  this  unique  piece  of 
admonition  was  composed,  either  followed  or  deviated 
from  the  path  thus  carefully  pointed  out  beforehand  for 
him  by  his  illustrious  father. 

1  Fabroni,  Appendix  VI. 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  IN  FLORENCE          23 

"  LORENZO  THE  MAGNIFICENT  IN  FLORENCE  TO  THE 
CARDINAL  DE'  MEDICI  IN  ROME 

"...  You  and  all  of  us  who  are  interested  in 
your  welfare  ought  to  esteem  ourselves  highly  favoured 
by  Providence,  not  only  for  the  many  honours  and  benefits 
bestowed  on  our  House,  but  more  particularly  for  having 
conferred  upon  us  in  your  person  the  greatest  dignity  we 
have  ever  enjoyed.  This  favour,  in  itself  so  important, 
is  rendered  still  more  so  by  the  circumstances  by  which 
it  is  accompanied,  and  especially  by  the  consideration  of 
your  youth,  and  of  our  situation  in  the  world.  The  first 
thing  that  I  would  therefore  suggest  to  you  is,  that  you 
ought  to  be  grateful  to  God,  and  continually  to  recollect 
that  it  is  not  through  your  prudence,  or  your  solicitude, 
that  this  event  has  taken  place,  but  through  His  favour 
which  you  can  only  repay  by  a  pious,  chaste,  and 
exemplary  life,  and  that  your  obligations  to  the  per- 
formance of  these  duties  are  so  much  the  greater,  as  in 
your  early  years  you  have  given  some  reasonable  ex- 
pectation that  your  riper  age  may  produce  such  fruits. 
It  would  be  indeed  highly  disgraceful,  and  as  contrary  to 
your  duty  as  to  my  hopes,  if  at  a  time  when  others 
display  a  greater  share  of  reason  and  adopt  a  better 
mode  of  life,  you  should  forget  the  precepts  of  your 
youth,  and  forsake  the  path  in  which  you  have  hitherto 
trodden.  Endeavour  therefore  to  alleviate  the  burden 
of  your  early  dignity  by  the  regularity  of  your  life  and  by 
your  perseverance  in  those  studies  which  are  suitable  to 
your  profession.  It  gave  me  great  satisfaction  to  learn 
that  in  the  course  of  the  past  year,  you  had  frequently  of 
your  own  accord  gone  to  Confession  and  Communion  ; 
nor  do  I  conceive  that  there  is  any  better  way  of  ob- 
taining the  favour  of  Heaven  than  by  habituating  your- 


24  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

self  to  a  performance  of  these  and  similar  duties.  This 
appears  to  me  to  be  the  most  suitable  and  most  useful 
advice,  which  in  the  first  instance  I  can  possibly  give 
you. 

41 1  well  know  that  as  you  are  now  to  reside  in  Rome, 
that  sink  of  all  iniquity, — che  e  sentina  dituttii  mali, — the 
difficulty  of  conducting  yourself  by  these  admonitions 
will  be  increased.  The  influence  of  example  is  itself 
prevalent,  but  you  will  probably  meet  with  those  who 
will  particularly  endeavour  to  corrupt  and  incite  you  to 
vice,  because,  as  you  may  yourself  perceive,  your  early 
attainment  to  so  great  a  dignity  is  not  observed  without 
envy ;  and  those  who  could  not  prevent  your  receiving 
that  honour  will  secretly  endeavour  to  diminish  it,  by 
inducing  you  to  forfeit  the  good  estimation  of  the 
public,  thereby  precipitating  you  into  that  gulf  wherein 
they  have  themselves  fallen,  in  which  attempt  the 
consideration  of  your  youth  will  give  them  a  confidence. 
To  these  difficulties  you  ought  to  oppose  yourself  with 
the  greater  firmness,  as  there  is  at  present  less  virtue 
amongst  your  brethren  of  the  College.  I  acknowledge 
indeed  that  several  of  them  are  good  and  learned  men, 
whose  lives  are  exemplary,  and  whom  I  would  recom- 
mend to  you  as  patterns  for  your  conduct.  By  emulating 
them  you  will  be  so  much  the  more  known  and  esteemed, 
in  proportion  as  your  age  and  the  peculiarity  of  your 
situation  will  distinguish  you  from  your  colleagues. 
Avoid,  however,  as  you  would  Scylla  or  Charybdis  the 
imputation  of  hypocrisy.  Guard  against  all  ostentation 
either  in  your  conduct  or  your  discourse.  Affect  not 
austerity,  nor  even  appear  too  serious.  This  advice  you 
will  in  time,  I  hope,  understand  and  practise  better  than 
I  can  express  it. 

44  You  are  not  unacquainted  with  the  great  importance 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  IN  FLORENCE          25 

of  the  character  you  have  to  sustain,  for  you  well  know- 
that  all  the  Christian  world  would  prosper,  if  the  Cardinals 
were  what  they  ought  to  be,  because  in  such  a  case  there 
would  always  be  a  good  Pope,  upon  which  the  tranquillity 
of  Christendom  so  materially  depends.  Endeavour 
then  to  render  yourself  such,  that,  if  all  the  rest  resembled 
you,  we  might  expect  this  universal  blessing.  .  .  . 

"You  are  now  devoted  to  God  and  the  Church,  on 
which  account  you  ought  to  aim  at  being  a  good  ecclesi- 
astic, and  to  show  that  you  prefer  the  honour  and  state 
of  the  Church  and  of  the  Apostolic  See  to  every  other 
consideration.  Nor,  while  you  keep  this  in  view,  will  it 
be  difficult  for  you  to  favour  your  family  and  your  native 
place.  On  the  contrary,  you  should  be  the  link  to  bind 
this  city  of  Florence  closer  to  the  Church,  and  our  family 
with  the  city,  and  although  it  be  impossible  to  foresee 
what  accidents  may  happen,  yet  I  doubt  not  but  this 
may  be  done  with  equal  advantage  to  all,  observing 
that  you  always  prefer  the  interests  of  the  Church. 

"  You  are  not  only  the  youngest  Cardinal  in  the  College, 
but  the  youngest  person  that  was  ever  raised  to  that 
rank,  and  you  ought,  therefore,  to  be  the  more  vigilant  and 
unassuming,  not  giving  others  occasion  to  wait  for  you 
either  in  the  chapel,  the  consistory,  or  upon  deputations. 
You  will  soon  get  a  sufficient  insight  into  the  manners 
of  your  brethren.  With  those  of  less  respectable  char- 
acter converse  not  with  too  much  intimacy,  not  merely 
on  account  of  the  circumstance  in  itself,  but  for  the  sake 
of  public  opinion.  Converse  on  general  topics  with  all. 
On  public  occasions  let  your  equipage  and  dress  be 
rather  below  than  above  mediocrity.  A  handsome 
house  and  a  well-ordered  household  will  be  preferable 
to  a  great  retinue  and  a  splendid  palace.  Endeavour  to 
live  with  regularity,  and  gradually  to  bring  your  expenses 


26  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

within  those  bounds  which  in  a  new  establishment  can- 
not perhaps  be  expected.  Silks  and  jewels  are  not  suit- 
able for  persons  in  your  station.1  Your  taste  will  be 
better  shown  in  the  acquisition  of  a  few  elegant  remains  of 
antiquity,  or  in  the  collecting  of  handsome  books,  and 
by  your  attendants  being  learned  and  well-bred  rather 
than  numerous.  Invite  others  to  your  house  oftener 
than  you  yourself  receive  invitations.  Practise  neither 
too  frequently.  Let  your  own  food  be  plain,  and  take 
sufficient  exercise,  for  those  who  wear  your  habit  are 
soon  liable,  without  great  caution,  to  contract  infirmities. 
The  situation  of  a  Cardinal  is  not  less  secure  than  ele- 
vated, on  which  account  those  who  arrive  at  it  too 
frequently  become  negligent,  conceiving  that  their  object 
is  attained  and  that  they  can  preserve  it  with  little 
trouble.  This  idea  is  often  injurious  to  the  life  and 
character  of  those  who  entertain  it.  Be  attentive  there- 
fore to  your  conduct  and  confide  in  others  too  little  rather 
than  too  much.  There  is  one  rule  which  I  would  re- 
commend to  your  attention  in  preference  to  all  others : 
Rise  early  in  the  morning.  This  will  not  only  contribute 
to  your  health,  but  will  enable  you  to  arrange  and  ex- 
pedite the  business  of  the  day,  and  as  there  are  various 
duties  incident  to  your  station,  such  as  the  performance 
of  Divine  service,  studying,  giving  audience,  etc.,  you 
will  find  the  observance  of  this  admonition  productive 
of  the  greatest  utility.  Another  very  necessary  pre- 
caution, particularly  on  your  entrance  into  public  life,  is 
to  deliberate  every  evening  on  what  you  have  to  per- 
form the  following  day,  that  you  may  not  be  unpre- 
pared for  whatever  may  happen.  With  respect  to  your 

1  Compare  with  this  Lord  Chesterfield's  advice  to  his  son,  a 
fashionable  layman  :  "  Let  your  lodging  be  equal  to  your  means ; 
your  living  below  your  means,  and  your  dress  above  your  means  ". 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  IN  FLORENCE           27 

speaking  in  the  consistory,  it  will  be  most  becoming  for 
you  at  present  to  refer  the  matters  in  debate  to  the 
judgment  of  His  Holiness,  alleging  as  a  reason  your 
own  youth  and  inexperience.  You  will  probably  be 
desired  to  intercede  for  the  favours  of  the  Pope  on 
particular  occasions.  Be  cautious,  however,  that  you 
trouble  him  not  too  often,  for  his  temper  leads  him  to  be 
most  liberal  to  those  who  weary  him  least  with  their 
solicitations.  This  you  must  observe,  lest  you  should 
give  him  offence,  remembering  also  at  times  to  converse 
with  him  on  more  agreeable  topics  ;  and  if  you  should  be 
obliged  to  request  some  kindness  from  him,  let  it  be 
done  with  the  modesty  and  humility  which  are  so  pleas- 
ing to  his  disposition.  Farewell." 

Scarcely  had  the  young  Cardinal  received  this  extra- 
ordinary proof  of  a  father's  devotion  and  wisdom,  than 
there  was  brought  to  Rome  news  of  the  Magnificent's 
fatal  illness  and  death  at  the  Careggi  villa  on  8th  April. 
And  thus  at  the  very  outset  of  his  career  in  the  Church 
was  the  youthful  Giovanni  de'  Medici  deprived  of  a  loving 
parent  and  a  judicious  guide,  who  perhaps  whilst  he  was 
inditing  his  final  letter  to  his  absent  son  realised  only  too 
well  the  impending  disaster  of  his  own  death. 

1  Fabroni,  Appendix  VII.  Roscoe,  Life  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent, 
vol.  ii.,  pp.  146-151. 


CHAPTER  II 
MISFORTUNE  AND  EXILE 

0  Italy  !  O  Rome  !  I  am  going  to  deliver  you  into  the  hands  of 
a  people  that  will  wipe  you  out  from  amongst  the  nations.     I  behold 
them  descending  upon  you  like  famished  lions.     Hand  in  hand  with 
War  stalks  Pestilence.     And  the  mortality  will  be  so  great  that  the 
grave-diggers  will  pass  through  your  streets  calling  aloud  for  the  dead 
bodies.     And  then  will  one  bear  a  father  to  the  charnel-house,  and 
another  his  son.     O  Rome !  again  I  warn  you  to  repent.     Repent, 
O  Venice !  Repent,  O  Milan !  .  .  .  Florence,  what  have  you  done  ? 
Shall  I  tell  you  ?     The  cup  of  your  iniquities  is  full,  therefore  stand 
prepared  for  some  great  vengeance  (Sermons  of  Savonarola). 

R)MANCE  and  mystery  have  ever  brooded  over 
the  death-bed  of  the  Magnificent  Lorenzo  from 
contemporary  times  to  the  present  day.  His- 
torians still  disagree  concerning  the  real  facts  of  Savona- 
rola's undoubted  visit  to  the  dying  prince  at  Careggi,1 
whilst  his  end  was  accompanied  by  strange  portents  or 
coincidences  in  Florence  itself,  which  at  the  moment 
excited  the  alarm  alike  of  the  learned  and  the  vulgar.  Not 
many  hours  before  he  expired,  there  fell  from  the  cupola 
of  the  Cathedral  a  huge  fragment  of  stone- work  with  a 
fearful  crash  in  the  dead  of  night,  striking  the  pavement 
on  the  side  towards  the  Medicean  palace,  whereat  it  was 
commonly  reported  that  Lorenzo  himself  recognised  his 

1  The  reader  is  referred  to  Professor  Pasquale  Villari,  Life  and 
Times  of  Savonarola  (book  i.,  chap,  ix.,  Appendix),  and  to  Professor 
Armstrong,  Lorenzo  de*  Medici  (chap,  viii.)  for  accounts  of  this  famous 
incident. 

28 


MISFORTUNE  AND  EXILE  29 

coming  dissolution  in  this  mysterious  accident.  Men 
told  each  other  also  how  a  fine  lion  kept  at  the  public 
expense  had  sickened  and  died,  and  again  certain  of  the 
more  credulous  spoke  of  comets  trailing  their  light  over 
Careggi  and  of  a  fire-breathing  monster  which  had  been 
seen  in  Santa  Maria  Novella.  There  was  an  universal 
feeling  of  restlessness  and  expectancy  in  the  air ;  a  vague 
presentiment  of  coming  peril,  as  men  began  dimly  to 
realise  that  the  loss  of  their  beloved  Lorenzo,  "the  most 
glorious  man  that  could  be  found," 1  must  of  necessity  cause 
far-reaching  changes  not  only  in  Florence,  but  through- 
out all  Italy.  Yet  Piero — Piero  the  Second,  as  he  is 
sometimes  called — was  straightway  confirmed  in  the  ex- 
alted position  held  by  his  late  father,  and  in  particular 
the  French  King's  envoy  was  instructed  to  recognise  the 
transfer  of  the  dignity  from  parent  to  heir,  so  that  out- 
wardly at  least,  the  state  of  Florence  pursued  its  normal 
course,  as  though  it  had  been  guided  for  generations 
under  an  hereditary  monarchy. 

As  soon  as  the  fatal  news  reached  Rome,  it  was  at 
once  suggested  that  the  young  Cardinal  should  return  to 
Florence,  in  reality  for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  his 
brother's  hands,  but  ostensibly  on  account  of  the  coming 
heats,  which  the  Florentine  envoy  in  Rome  affected  to 
consider  injurious  to  the  health  of  young  persons.2  During 
the  short  space  of  his  residence  in  the  Eternal  City  it  is 
evident  that  Giovanni  de'  Medici  had  gained  golden 
opinions  from  the  Pope,  who  had  been  favourably  im- 
pressed both  by  the  Cardinal's  modesty  and  by  his  ap- 
plication to  business.  How  far  the  papal  satisfaction 
was  shared  by  the  Sacred  College  at  large,  it  is  difficult 

1  Landucci. 

2Fabroni,  Appendix  V.  :  "  Questa  aria  a  giovani  maxime  non 
suol  esser  buona  ". 


30  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

to  determine ;  yet  everyone  expressed  pleasure  when 
Innocent  announced  his  intention  of  investing  this  fortun- 
ate youth  with  legatine  authority  in  Tuscany,  so  that 
these  additional  powers  might  prove  of  service  to  his  elder 
brother,  thus  suddenly  called  upon  to  fill  the  difficult  post 
of  an  uncrowned  and  officially  unrecognised  monarch. 
The  legatine  authority  was  formally  bestowed  on 
Giovanni  de'  Medici  in  the  Sistine  Chapel  during  the 
ceremony  of  the  blessing  of  the  palms  on  Palm  Sunday, 
and  the  news  of  this  honour,  according  to  the  young 
Cardinal's  tutor,  Stefano  di  Castrocaro,  made  a  profound 
sensation  at  the  Roman  court,  so  that  we  cannot  help 
reflecting  on  the  gratification  which  this  early  mark  of 
favour  would  have  afforded  to  the  ambitious  Lorenzo, 
had  he  been  still  living.  Yet  Castrocaro's  report  also 
contains  a  curious  postscript  addressed  to  the  Florentine 
envoy,  whom  he  exhorts  to  speak  seriously  to  the  young 
Cardinal  concerning  his  present  mode  of  life,  which  differs 
much  from  that  pursued  by  his  colleagues,  so  the  writer 
avers.  He  will  not  rise  betimes  of  a  morning,  and  will 
sit  up  too  late  at  night,  whereat  the  tutor  is  much  con- 
cerned, since  such  irregular  habits  are  likely  to  injure  his 
general  health.1  On  this  vital  point,  therefore,  upon 
which  his  father  had  laid  such  stress,  Giovanni  evidently 
did  not  intend  to  follow  the  excellent  advice  bequeathed 
him,  and,  as  we  know,  his  lazy  habits  in  later  life  are 
severely  commented  on  by  those  candid  critics,  the 
Venetian  ambassadors  in  Rome. 

The  Cardinal,  who  did  not  return  to  his  native  city 
till  2Oth  May,  had  early  written  to  his  brother,  bewailing 
their  irreparable  loss  and  also  expressing  a  subject's  deep 
devotion  towards  one  who  was  now  both  an  elder  brother 

1  Fabroni,  Appendix  V. 


MISFORTUNE  AND  EXILE  31 

and  a  sovereign,  although  Giovanni's  profession  of  un- 
questioning loyalty  is  tempered  by  a  delicate  hint  as  to 
future  conduct  on  Piero's  side  :— 

"JOHANNES  FRANCISCUS,  CARDINAL  DE'  MEDICI,  TO  HIS 
MAGNIFICENCE,  PIERO  DE'  MEDICI 

"  DEAREST   BROTHER    AND    SOLE    PILLAR    OF   OUR 

HOUSE! 

"What  am  I  to  write,  brother  mine,  for  there  is 
nought  save  tears  to  tell  of,  and  of  a  truth  in  dwelling 
upon  the  pious  memory  of  our  father,  mourning  seems 
better  than  language?  And  what  a  father  he  was  to 
us !  That  no  parent  was  ever  more  indulgent  to  his 
sons,  there  needs  no  witness  save  his  own  conduct.  No 
wonder  therefore  that  I  lament  with  tears  and  find  no 
repose  ;  yet  sometimes,  dear  brother,  I  obtain  consolation 
in  the  thought  that  I  have  yourself  to  regard  ever  in  the 
light  of  our  lost  parent.  Yours  it  will  now  be  to  com- 
mand, and  mine  to  obey  cheerfully,  for  it  will  give  me 
the  highest  pleasure  possible  to  perform  your  orders. 
Despatch  me  into  dangers ;  command  me ;  for  there  is 
nothing  wherein  I  would  not  assist  your  ends.  Never- 
theless, I  implore  you,  Piero  mine,  for  my  sake  to  con- 
trive to  show  yourself  generous,  courteous,  friendly  and 
open  towards  all,  but  especially  towards  our  owrn  followers, 
for  by  such  qualities  there  is  nothing  one  cannot  achieve 
or  keep.  But  I  do  not  remind  you  of  this  for  lack  of 
confidence  in  your  powers,  but  because  I  feel  it  my  duty 
to  mention  it.  Many  things  go  to  strengthen  and  con- 
sole me — the  crowds  of  mourners  at  our  gates,  the  grief- 
stricken  aspect  of  the  city,  the  public  lamentations  in 
Florence,  and  all  those  other  details  which  help  to  allevi- 
ate sorrow  like  ours — but  what  solaces  me  more  than 
aught  else  is  my  having  yourself,  since  I  trust  in  you  to 


32  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

a  degree  I  cannot  easily  express.  .  .  .   Fare  you  well ! 
As  for  myself,  I  am  in  such  health  as  my  grief  permits. 

"  From  the  City 

"  \2th  April,  1492  M1 

Of  his  three  sons,  Lorenzo  had  long  ago  predicted 
that  Piero  would  grow  up  headstrong  (unpazzo),  Giovanni 
a  scholar  (un  savio],  and  Giuliano  good  (un  buono),  and 
as  usual  the  Magnificent's  shrewd  judgment  was  proved 
by  time  to  be  correct.  The  new  ruler  of  Florence, 
though  not  wholly  destitute  of  virtues,  for  he  was 
generous,  cultured  and  accounted  brave,  was  far  too  hot- 
headed and  fond  of  pleasure  to  carry  out  adequately  the 
exalted  but  delicate  duties  which  his  father  had  performed 
with  such  marked  ability  and  success  for  the  last  twenty 
years.  Addicted  to  street  brawling  and  to  nocturnal 
amours,  Piero  was  quite  unfit  to  set  an  example  to  the 
Florentine  people.  His  love  of  costly  tournaments, 
wherein  his  undoubted  skill  often  bore  away  the  palm  ; 
his  excellence  at  that  rough  species  of  Florentine  foot-ball, 
the  calcio ;  and  his  acknowledged  prowess  at  pallone,  the 
popular  Tuscan  game  at  ball  which  requires  both  an  un- 
erring eye  and  brute  strength  of  arm,  served  to  endear 
their  new  ruler  to  the  idle  and  rich  young  men  ;  but  such 
accomplishments  scarcely  commended  themselves  to  the 
graver  citizens,  whilst  they  excited  the  contemptuous 
dislike  of  the  old-fashioned  adherents  of  the  Republic. 
Piero's  mother  had  been  an  Orsini,  and  in  her  eldest 
son's  character  the  feudal  pride  of  the  Roman  house 
dominated  the  more  crafty  qualities  derived  from  the 
burgher  blood ;  his  wife,  Alfonsina  Orsini,  came  of  the 
same  turbulent  stock,  and  her  injudicious  advice  went 
far  towards  increasing  her  husband's  natural  arrogance. 

1  Fabroni,  Appendix  VII. 


MISFORTUNE  AND  EXILE  33 

Tactless  and  violent,  inordinately  fond  of  sports  and  im- 
patient of  the  routine  of  business,  Piero  could  never  have 
held  the  mastery  of  Florence  for  any  great  length  of  time, 
and  on  the  whole  it  seems  rather  remarkable  that  more 
than  two  years  were  allowed  to  elapse  before  the  offended 
citizens  expelled  with  ignominy  this  incapable  young  ruler 
from  their  midst.  As  to  Giovanni  and  his  possible  restrain- 
ing influence  over  his  elder  brother,  we  must  bear  in  mind 
that  he  had  not  yet  attained  his  nineteenth  year,  when 
the  final  catastrophe  of  1494  overwhelmed  the  Medicean 
family,  and  even  assuming  that  he  tendered  good  advice, 
it  does  not  appear  probable  that  the  rash  and  conceited 
Piero  would  have  consented  to  listen  to  a  younger 
brother's  solemn  warnings.  On  the  other  hand,  had 
Giovanni  possessed  Piero 's  splendid  opportunities  and 
additional  years  of  experience ;  had  he  been  educated 
by  Lorenzo  as  his  political  heir  rather  than  as  a  future 
Churchman,  we  agree  with  a  modern  critic  in  believing 
that  the  forcible  expulsion  of  the  Medici  in  the  autumn  of 
1494  might  certainly  have  been  averted. 

Of  a  truth,  the  times  were  too  fateful  to  allow  of  medio- 
crity, far  less  of  downright  incompetence,  for  the  year 
1492,  that  annus  mirabilis,  may  be  described  as  definitely 
marking  the  boundary  line  between  the  world  of  the 
middle  ages  and  that  of  modern  thought  and  civilisation. 
Europe  was  passing  through  a  series  of  changes — moral, 
social  and  political — with  appalling  rapidity.  That 
memorable  year  saw  the  expulsion  of  the  Moslem  from 
Granada,  and  with  it  the  first  blow  to  the  overweening 

o 

power  of  the  Turk  and  the  early  rise  of  the  vast  but 
short-lived  Spanish  empire ;  it  saw  too  the  voyage  of 
Columbus  into  the  New  World,  that  prelude  to  the  dis- 
coveries of  Vasco  da  Gama  and  of  Sebastian  Cabot, 
which  were  destined  to  stultify  the  whole  system  of 
3 


34  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

mediaeval  geography  and  astronomy,  and  to  prepare  the 
way  for  the  theories  of  Copernicus  and  Galileo.  To 
Italy  itself  that  year  was  doomed  to  be  climacteric,  for 
the  death  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  that  typical  product  of 
the  earlier  Renaissance,  broke  up  for  ever  the  artificial 
system  of  balance  of  power  within  the  peninsula,  of  which 
the  late  ruler  of  Florence  had  been  the  main  director ; 
whilst  fresh  and  unheard-of  complications  were  about  to 
arise  on  the  decease  of  the  aged  Pope.  Poor  Piero's 
abilities  were  of  course  quite  unequal  to  cope  with  this 
universal  upheaval ;  indeed,  it  is  very  doubtful  if  all  the 
skill  of  his  father  could  have  saved  Italy  from  the  terrible 
wrath  to  come. 

Scarcely  had  Piero  been  three  months  at  the  head  of 
the  Florentine  state,  than  news  was  brought  of  the  fatal 
illness  of  Innocent  VIII.,  "the  constant  guardian  of  the 
peace  of  Italy,"  the  firm  friend  of  the  Medici  and  the 
patron  of  Andrea  Mantegna.  The  Cardinal  now  hastened 
to  Rome  where  a  conclave  of  twenty-three  members  (for 
to  such  meagre  proportions  had  the  selfish  attitude  of  the 
Cardinals  reduced  the  Sacred  College  in  Italy)  met  to 
select  a  successor  to  Innocent.  The  conclave  was  of  brief 
duration,  for  of  the  two  likely  candidates  for  the  tiara— 
Roderigo  Borgia  and  Ascanio  Sforza — the  former  by  un- 
scrupulous methods  soon  induced  his  possible  rival  to  waive 
his  claims.  Five  asses  laden  with  bags  of  gold  were  seen 
to  enter  the  courtyard  of  Sforza's  palace,  and  even  this 
was  but  an  earnest  of  what  the  Spanish  Cardinal  promised 
to  his  Milanese  opponent  in  return  for  his  support. 
Smaller  largesse  was  sufficient  for  the  other  members  of 
the  conclave,  all  of  whom  save  five  are  said  to  have  re- 
ceived pay  or  promises  from  Borgia  in  return  for  their 
votes.  The  opposition  of  the  pious  Piccolomini  and 
Caraffa,  of  Giovanni  Colonna  and  of  the  young  Medici, 


MISFORTUNE  AND  EXILE  35 

and  the  fierce  diatribes  of  Cardinal  Giuliano  Delia  Rovere 
proved  of  no  avail;  on  nth  August,  within  three  weeks 
of  Innocent's  death,  Roderigo  Borgia  was  elected  Pope 
under  the  name  of  the  invincible  Alexander  at  his  own 
request.  The  elevation  of  the  Borgia  was  in  short  almost 
an  exact  historical  repetition  of  that  disgraceful  incident 
during  the  decadence  of  the  Roman  Empire,  when  the 
Pretorian  Guard  put  up  the  sovereignty  of  the  Roman 
world  for  sale  to  the  highest  bidder,  the  merchant  Julius 
Didianus.  The  evil  reputation  of  the  new  Pope  and  the 
open  bribery  he  had  used  to  accomplish  his  aims  sent  a 
thrill  of  horror  throughout  the  courts  of  Italy.  The  hard- 
hearted Ferdinand  of  Naples,  who  had  never  been  known 
to  weep,  even  at  the  death  of  his  own  child,  burst  into 
tears  of  rage  and  fright  at  the  receipt  of  this  news,  whilst 
the  intrepid  Cardinal  Delia  Rovere  hurried  from  the  city 
to  the  castle  of  Ostia,  whence  he  denounced  the  late  elec- 
tion as  null  and  void,  loudly  appealing  to  the  princes  of 
Christendom  to  call  a  general  council  to  depose  this  false 
Pontiff,  this  betrayer  of  the  Church.  Nevertheless, 
Alexander  held  his  own  despite  the  outcry,  and  at  least 
in  Rome  itself  his  accession  was  far  from  being  considered 
altogether  a  calamity.  For  if  the  new  Pontiff  had  many 
acknowledged  vices  (which  Italian  historians  and  gossips 
have  perhaps  unduly  blackened  in  the  case  of  a  foreign 
Pope)  he  certainly  owned  qualities  which  might  have 
rendered  him  an  able  and  even  a  beneficent  administrator. 
With  justice  but  without  mercy  the  disgraceful  state  of 
crime  and  brigandage,  which  had  prevailed  in  the  Roman 
States  under  Innocent's  feeble  sway,  was  promptly  sup- 
pressed, and  for  this  and  similar  measures  on  behalf  of  the 
public  safety  the  Roman  people  felt  not  a  little  grateful. 
"  Vive  diu,  Bos! — O  Borgia,  live  for  ever!" — cried  the 
admiring  throngs  in  allusion  to  the  heraldic  bull  on  the 


36  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Borgian  shield,  whilst  during  the  coronation  festivities  one 
of  the  many  laudatory  inscriptions  bore  the  fulsome  and 
almost  blasphemous  legend— 

In  Alexander,  Caesar  is  surpast, 

The  former  is  a  God,  a  man  the  last ! l 

But  however  much  the  populace  of  Rome  may  have  ap- 
plauded on  this  occasion,  such  of  the  cardinals  as  had 
opposed  Alexander's  election  at  once  perceived  the  ad- 
visability of  withdrawing  quickly  from  the  city.  Amongst 
these  was  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici,  who  has  been  credited, 
on  the  authority  of  Burchard,  the  papal  master  of  cere- 
monies, with  a  remark  addressed  to  his  neighbour  in  the 
conclave,  Lorenzo  Cybo :  "We  are  in  the  jaws  of  a 
rapacious  wolf!  If  we  neglect  to  flee,  he  will  devour  us." 
Whether  or  no  Giovanni  actually  expressed  himself  thus, 
it  is  certain  that  he  deemed  it  prudent  to  retire  to  Florence, 
where  he  resided  until  the  expulsion  of  his  House  in  1494, 
inhabiting  during  this  period  a  palace  in  the  quarter  of 
Sant'  Antonio  near  the  Faenza  Gate.2 

The  many  snares  in  the  existing  situation  at  home 
must  have  been  soon  perceived  by  the  sharp  eye  of  the 
young  Cardinal,  who  did  what  he  could  to  render  the  tenure 
of  the  city  by  his  family  less  insecure.  With  the  political 
world  without  ready  to  fall  into  confusion,  Florence  itself 
was  seething  with  discontent  and  with  a  general  desire 
for  reform,  a  desire  which  found  voice  in  the  impassioned 
sermons  of  the  prior  of  San  Marco,  Fra  Girolamo 
Savonarola.  His  Advent  and  Lenten  addresses,  given 
within  the  spacious  nave  of  the  Duomo,  were  attracting 
vast  crowds  of  citizens,  bent  equally  on  bewailing  their 

1 "  Caesare  magna  fuit,  nunc  Roma  est  maxima :  Sextus  Regnat 
Alexander;  ille  vir,  iste  deus." — Creighton,  vol.  iv.,  p.  189,  note  2. 

2  This  quarter  of  the  city  was  dismantled  during  the  siege  of  Flor- 
ence in  1529,  and  its  site  is  now  occupied  by  the  Citadel  of  the  Grand- 
Dukes  of  Tuscany. — N.  Richa,  Chiese  Florentine. 


MISFORTUNE  AND  EXILE  37 

own  sins  and  deploring  the  wickedness  of  those  in  high 
places.  The  recent  election  of  Alexander  VI.  had  caused 
the  deepest  indignation  to  the  prior,  who  was  already 
expounding  his  predictions  of  impending  disaster  to  his 
overflowing  audiences,  ending  each  discourse  with  his 
three  famous  "  Conclusions,"  on  which  all  his  exhortations 
were  based  ;  namely,  that  the  Church  would  be  chastised 
for  her  present  state  of  corruption ;  that  she  would  be 
regenerated  ;  and  that  these  measures  of  punishment  and 
reformation  were  close  at  hand.  From  his  conclusions 
the  preacher  advanced  to  attack  in  scathing  language  the 
lives  and  practices  of  the  prelates  of  the  day,  who  cared 
only  for  the  outward  adornments  of  Holy  Church — for 
the  ceremonies  and  vestments,  the  jewelled  mitres  and 
golden  chalices,  the  notes  of  sweet-toned  organs  and  the 
chaunting  of  choristers — and  who  only  tickled  men's  ears 
with  pagan  arguments  from  Plato  or  Aristotle,  instead  of 
attending  to  the  true  salvation  of  the  soul.  From  the 
princes  of  the  Church  Savonarola  passed  to  the  condem- 
nation of  the  secular  rulers  of  Italy,  and  here  his  burning 
indignation  knew  no  bounds  ; — "  these  wicked  princes  are 
sent  to  chastise  the  sins  of  their  subjects ;  they  are  truly 
a  sad  snare  for  souls  ;  their  courts  and  palaces  are  the 
refuge  of  all  the  beasts  and  monsters  of  the  earth,  for  they 
give  shelter  to  ribalds  and  malefactors  ".  From  princes, 
Savonarola  proceeded  to  "flattering  philosophers  and 
poets,  who  by  force  of  a  thousand  lies  and  fables  trace 
the  genealogy  of  these  evil  princes  back  to  the  gods ". 
And  in  connection  with  this  last  piece  of  fulmination,  we 
can  imagine  with  what  degree  of  disgust  the  prior  of  St. 
Mark's  must  have  heard  of  the  canonry  in  the  Duomo 
conferred  by  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici  upon  his  old  tutor, 
the  humanist  and  reputed  pagan,  Politian. 

Names  were  invariably  omitted  by  the  preacher,  yet 


38  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

for  this  general  indictment  of  secular  and  ecclesiastical 
corruption  in  Italy,  it  was  no  difficult  matter  for  the  vast 
congregation,  much  of  it  already  hostile  to  the  Medicean 
rule,  to  apply  the  prior's  statements  and  warnings  directly 
to  the  sins  of  the  prince  and  prelate  in  their  midst  :  the 
supposed  tyranny  of  Piero  and  the  worldliness  of  the 
Cardinal.  Nevertheless,  Piero  was  unable  or  unwilling 
to  take  any  decided  step  for  the  arrest  or  silencing  of 
this  uncompromising  monkish  agitator.  For  a  short 
time,  it  is  true,  during  the  summer  of  1493,  the  nominal 
ruler  of  Florence,  probably  at  the  suggestion  and  cer- 
tainly with  the  help  of  his  younger  brother,  had  contrived 
by  means  of  the  superiors  of  the  Dominican  Order  in 
Rome  to  obtain  Savonarola's  peaceful  transference  to 
Bologna  ;  yet  by  an  unaccountable  act  of  folly  Piero  had 
later  allowed  the  all-powerful  preacher  to  return  to 
Florence,  thereby  proving  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt 
that  the  great  Lorenzo's  heir  was  indeed  a  positive  fool, 
wholly  unable  to  read  aright  the  manifest  signs  of  his 
times. 

The  evil  effects  of  Lorenzo's  loss  and  of  Alexander's 
election  soon  became  apparent,  for  the  three  states  of 
Florence,  Milan  and  Naples  were  already  falling  into 
political  entanglements,  which  the  constant  intrigues  of 
three  ambitious  women — Alfonsina  Orsini  in  Florence, 
Beatrice  d'Este  in  Milan  and  the  Duchess  Isabella  at 
Pavia — made  yet  more  complicated.  Almost  immedi- 
ately after  his  father's  death,  Piero  had  begun  to  exhibit 
a  certain  degree  of  coolness  towards  the  usurper  of 
Milan  (whom  Lorenzo  had  always  done  his  best  to  con- 
ciliate) and  to  coquet  politically  with  Ludovico  Sforza's 
deadly  enemy,  King  Ferdinand  of  Naples  ;  an  attitude 
which  eventually  drove  the  exasperated  and  nervous 
Duke  of  Milan  to  take  a  step  fraught  with  the  utmost 


MISFORTUNE  AND  EXILE  39 

importance  for  the  future  of  Italy.  Dreading  a  combina- 
tion of  the  Florentine  state  with  his  arch-enemy,  Ferdin- 
and of  Naples,  the  Sforza  now  determined  to  save 
himself  from  impending  ruin  by  no  less  a  measure  than 
the  total  banishment  of  the  dynasty  of  Aragon  from 
Naples,  by  inciting  the  young  Charles  VIII.  of  France 
to  take  forcible  possession  of  that  kingdom,  which  he 
claimed  as  heir  of  the  former  monarchs  of  the  House  of 
Anjou.  The  devil,  says  the  proverb,  is  at  all  times 
easier  to  raise  than  to  lay  ;  and  in  this  instance  Ludovico 
Sforza  of  Milan  has  gained  an  unenviable  notoriety  as  the 
original  promoter  of  that  detestable  policy  of  foreign  in- 
vasion, from  the  evil  effects  of  which  Italy  has  been 
suffering  almost  until  our  own  days.  But  at  this  period 
the  aims  of  every  government  and  ruler  throughout 
Italy  were  mean,  selfish  and  provincial  to  a  degree  which 
we  find  it  hard  at  this  distance  of  time  to  realise  ; — the 
very  notion  of  Italian  patriotism,  of  Italian  unity,  was 
practically  non-existent  in  the  year  1492.  Even  the 
shrewd  Lorenzo  had  always  regarded  his  native  land  as 
a  mere  conglomerate  mass  of  hostile  and  disunited  states, 
which  it  required  a  master-hand  like  his  own  to  manipu- 
late, so  as  to  preserve  peace  throughout  the  whole 
peninsula.  Nevertheless,  it  was  reserved  for  a  Floren- 
tine thinker,  an  obscure  and  needy  citizen,  who  was 
twenty-three  years  of  age  at  Lorenzo's  death,  to  propound 
to  an  unheeding  Italy  the  tenets  of  true  patriotism  and 
their  surest  means  of  attainment.1 

After  much  hesitation  and  in  opposition  to  public 
opinion  in  France  itself,  the  young  French  monarch 
finally  accepted  the  Sforza's  selfish  invitation,  and  at  last 
the  vast  army  of  Charles  VIII.,  60,000  men  strong  and 
supported  by  the  finest  artillery  of  that  age,  crossed  the 

1  Niccol6  Machiavelli  in  //  Principe,  Gli  Discorsi,  etc. 


40  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

snowy  barrier  of  the  protecting  Alps,  which,  in  the  words 
of  Michelet,  were  now  levelled  henceforth  and  for  ever- 
more. After  a  long  period  spent  partly  in  feasting  and 
dallying  at  Asti  and  Turin,  and  partly  in  recovering  from 
the  ill-effects  of  his  excesses  at  these  entertainments, 
Charles  was  again  able  to  proceed,  and  his  splendid  army 
with  its  fine  French  cavalry,  its  sturdy  German  Lands- 
knechts,  its  Swiss  mountaineers  and  its  Scottish  archers, 
once  more  continued  on  its  course  towards  Naples,  where 
the  aged  Ferdinand  was  making  feverish  but  belated 
efforts  in  defence  of  his  coveted  kingdom.  The  king's 
son,  the  Duke  of  Calabria,  was  meanwhile  preparing  to 
oppose  the  French  advance  by  way  of  the  Adriatic 
coast-line,  but  it  lay  with  Piero  de'  Medici  to  decide 
whether  or  no  the  invaders  were  to  be  allowed  to  pass 
unmolested  through  Tuscan  territory  on  the  western 
side  of  the  Apennines.  Intense  was  the  excitement  pre- 
vailing in  Florence  at  the  news  of  Charles'  progress,  and 
the  general  concern  was  further  increased,  when  it  be- 
came known  that  Piero,  anxious  to  imitate  his  father's 
diplomatic  methods,  had  at  his  own  initiative  set  out  for 
the  French  camp  to  treat  in  person  with  the  king.  Both 
Medicean  and  popular  parties  awaited  in  tense  anxiety 
the  result  of  this  mission,  and  loud  were  the  execrations 
of  the  latter  party  and  dire  the  dismay  of  the  Palleschi, 
the  adherents  of  the  Medici,  when  authentic  details  of 
Piero's  bungling  diplomacy  were  brought  to  the  city. 
For  the  foolish  and  incompetent  prince — "  II  Gran  Lom- 
bardo,"  as  he  was  styled  by  the  French  court  for  want 
of  a  recognised  official  title — had  actually  ceded  the 
Tuscan  fortresses  of  Sarzana  and  Sarzanella,  the  keys 
of  the  road  to  Rome  and  Naples,  to  the  King  of  France. 
Yet  so  blind  was  Piero  to  the  inglorious  nature  of  his 
late  pact  with  Charles,  that  he  ventured  to  return  to  the 


MISFORTUNE  AND  EXILE  41 

city  on  8th  November,  and  throwing  open  the  doors  of 
his  palace  gave  cakes  and  wine  to  a  number  of  the  popu- 
lace, whom  he  assured  with  a  cheerful  countenance  that 
now  both  he  himself  and  the  state  of  Florence  were  safe 
from  danger  owing  to  his  judicious  treaty  with  the  in- 
vincible invader  of  Italy.  But  Piero's  self-satisfaction,  as- 
suming it  to  have  been  genuine,  was  not  of  long  duration, 
for  on  the  following  day  he  attempted  to  force  his  way 
into  the  palace  of  the  Signory  in  order  to  explain  his 
late  unpopular  action,  with  the  result  that  he  was  ig- 
nominiously  forced  to  return  to  his  house  amidst  the 
ringing  of  alarm  bells  and  shouts  of  contemptuous  hatred. 
Terrified  at  the  hostile  aspect  of  the  city,  Piero  after  a 
short  period  of  wavering  finally  decided  upon  flight, 
thereby  committing  the  last  of  the  many  follies  which 
had  characterised  his  brief  rule  of  Florence ; — indeed, 
this  final  action  proved  Lorenzo's  heir  to  be  not  only  in- 
capable but  also  cowardly.  Together  with  his  youngest 
brother,  Giuliano,  then  sixteen  years  old,  the  self-exiled 
prince  hurried  to  the  Porta  San  Gallo,  where  horses 
were  waiting  in  readiness  to  carry  them  over  the  passes 
of  the  Apennines  to  Bologna.  Even  his  voluntary 
choice  of  an  objective  in  his  flight  proves  Piero's  hopeless 
incompetence,  for  his  natural  bourne  under  the  circum- 
stances should  have  been  the  camp  of  the  French  King, 
with  whom  he  had  so  recently  made  a  treaty  in  the 
name  of  the  state  he  was  supposed  to  represent.  As 
it  so  fell,  the  unlucky  prince  richly  deserved  the  taunts, 
however  ungenerous,  of  Giovanni  Bentivoglio,  tyrant  of 
Bologna,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  twit  the  head  of  the 
once-powerful  Medicean  House  with  his  late  surrender 
of  Florence  practically  without  a  protest,  certainly  with- 
out a  struggle. 

During  this  acute  crisis  produced  by  threats  of  ex- 


42  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

ternal  invasion  and  by  dissensions  within  the  city,  what 
had  been  the  conduct  of  the  Cardinal  ?  Shortly  before 
the  approach  of  Charles  towards  Sarzana,  Giovanni  de' 
Medici  had,  it  seems,  been  summoned  specially  to  Rome 
by  the  Pope.  Not  daring  to  disobey  Alexander's  ex- 
plicit message,  although  the  Pontiff's  request  was  gener- 
ally interpreted  as  a  device  to  obtain  Giovanni's  person 
as  a  hostage  for  Piero's  future  obedience  to  the  Holy  See, 
the  Cardinal  set  out  for  Rome.  He  had  proceeded  as 
far  as  his  own  abbey  of  Passignano,  when  he  was  hastily 
informed  of  Piero's  mission  to  the  French  King,  where- 
upon he  quickly  returned  to  Florence,  now  filled  with 
tumult  and  with  the  mass  of  its  citizens  avowedly  hostile 
to  the  House  of  Medici.  On  that  memorable  Sunday 
of  9th  November,  1494,  the  Cardinal,  in  order  to  assist 
his  brother's  efforts  to  force  an  entrance  into  the  palace 
of  the  Signory,  issued  from  his  house  at  Sant'  Antonio 
clad  in  his  robes  and  attended  by  a  number  of  armed 
servants.  Riding  by  way  of  the  narrow  Corso  and 
shouting  Palle  !  Palle  /  the  young  Churchman  contrived 
to  reach  the  chapel  of  Or  San  Michele  despite  the 
threatening  attitude  of  the  mob  and  the  repeated  cries 
of  Popolo  e  Liberia  /  Muoiano  i  tiranni  /  with  which 
the  air  resounded.  Although  the  Cardinal  kept  bitterly 
reproaching  the  Florentine  crowd  for  its  ingratitude  to 
his  House,  the  red  robe  was  for  a  while  respected ;  but 
in  front  of  Or  San  Michele,  Giovanni  was  compelled  to 
retire  at  the  risk  of  his  life.  An  attempt  to  rouse  the 
poor  quarter  round  San  Gallo,  hitherto  notable  as  a 
stronghold  of  the  Palleschi,  ended  in  like  failure.  The 
Cardinal  now  made  his  way  to  the  convent  of  San  Marco, 
whereupon  the  monks  ungraciously  refused  to  unbar 
their  doors  to  a  prince  of  the  Church,  the  son  of  their 
former  benefactor,  Lorenzo  de'  Medici.  Thus  repulsed 


MISFORTUNE  AND  EXILE  43 

at  San  Marco,  Giovanni  retired  to  his  own  house,  where, 
later,  information  was  sent  to  him  of  Piero's  unmanly 
flight.  Angry  crowds  were  now  gathering  round  the 
doors  of  the  palace  in  Sant'  Antonio,  where  Luca 
Landucci,  no  friend  to  the  Medici,  declared  that  he  saw 
the  Cardinal's  form  through  the  open  casement,  kneeling 
in  prayer  with  clasped  hands,  at  which,  remarks  the  good 
Landucci,  "  I  felt  very  sorry  for  him,  for  I  reckoned  him 
to  be  a  worthy  young  man  with  excellent  intentions  "-1 
The  beleaguered  Cardinal  now  hastily  exchanged  his 
rich  vestments  for  the  coarse  brown  habit  of  a  Franciscan 
friar,  and  quitting  his  palace  unnoticed  in  this  garb  and 
mingling  with  the  crowd  bent  on  his  own  destruction  he 
escaped  under  cover  of  the  shades  of  evening  to  the 
Porta  San  Gallo,  whence,  following  in  the  tracks  of  his 
brothers  across  the  Apennines,  he  arrived  a  few  hours 
after  them  at  the  gates  of  Bologna. 

On  hearing  of  the  departure  of  the  three  Medici,  the 
Florentine  populace  grew  fiercer  and  more  uproarious, 
so  that  the  proposal  to  sack  the  deserted  palaces  of  their 
late  rulers  was  greeted  with  shouts  of  approval.  The 
Casino  of  San  Marco,  with  its  adjacent  gardens  and 
academy  provided  by  the  Magnificent  for  the  public  study 
of  sculpture,  was  speedily  denuded  of  its  treasures,  the 
ignorant  rabble  hacking  to  bits  the  masterpieces  of  art, 
which  were  too  bulky  for  removal.  The  Cardinal's  re- 
sidence at  Sant'  Antonio  was  next  destroyed,  and  its 
valuable  collections  all  stolen  or  scattered ; — so  violent 
was  the  behaviour  of  the  mob  here  that  the  very  fabric 
of  the  house  was  threatened  with  collapse,  and  the 
Cardinal's  servants  were  scarcely  permitted  to  escape 
with  their  lives.  The  great  palace  in  Via  Larga  was 

1  Landucci,  p.  75. 


44  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

however  protected  by  express  order  of  the  Signory,  not 
out  of  any  motive  of  compassion  for  its  luckless  owner, 
but  because  it  had  been  proposed  to  lodge  the  King  of 
France  under  its  roof  on  his  expected  arrival.  Quantities 
of  works  of  art  and  pieces  of  plate  were,  however,  pilfered, 
and  whatsoever  the  Florentines  spared  the  retinue  of 
Charles  removed  a  little  later,  so  that  it  is  no  exaggeration 
to  say  that  all  the  Medicean  palaces  were  sacked  and  their 
possessors  absolutely  despoiled  of  all  their  private  wealth. 
Nor  was  this  all,  for  the  Signory,  after  decreeing  the  con- 
fiscation of  their  goods,  next  set  a  price  upon  the  heads 
of  the  two  elder  brothers,  now  declared  outlaws,  pro- 
mising by  open  proclamation  2000  ducats  to  the  slayer 
of  Piero  and  half  that  sum  to  the  lucky  assassin  of  the 
Cardinal.1 

But  before  pursuing  further  the  fortunes  of  the  exiled 
Cardinal,  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  making  reference, 
although  such  may  naturally  be  accounted  a  digression, 
to  the  coming  "  Restorer  and  Protector  of  the  liberties 
of  Florence,"  as  the  name  of  Charles  of  France  was 
enrolled  officially  in  the  archives  of  the  revived  Republic. 
Exactly  a  week  from  the  violent  expulsion  of  the  Medici, 
late  in  the  evening  of  I7th  November,  appeared  Charles 
VIII.  as  a  conqueror  with  couched  lance  at  the  open 
gate  of  San  Frediano.  Mounted  on  a  magnificent 
charger  and  clad  in  black  velvet  with  flowing  mantle 
of  cloth-of-gold,  surrounded  by  the  flower  of  French 
chivalry,  Charles  made  an  imposing  figure  at  his  entry 
into  Florence.  But  on  his  alighting  at  the  portals  of  the 
cathedral  and  thus  giving  a  nearer  view  of  his  person  to 
the  applauding  citizens,  general  surprise  and  disappoint- 

1  Landucci,  p.  75  :  "E  in  questo  tempo  mandorono  un  bando 
in  piazza,  che  chi  amazzava  Piero  de'  Medici  guadagniassi  2000 
ducati,  e  chi  amazzava  el  Cardinale  n'  avesse  1000  ". 


MISFORTUNE  AND  EXILE  45 

ment  were  expressed  at  the  deformed  little  monster  of  a 
man  with  the  inane  face,  the  staring  expressionless  eyes, 
the  long  nose,  the  tiny  trunk  and  the  spindling  legs  ending 
in  feet  so  enormous  that  vulgar  tradition  credited  their 
owner  with  the  possession  of  a  sixth  toe.  "He  was  in- 
deed a  mannikin  !  " l  sighs  the  aggrieved  Landucci,  who 
however  adds  that  all  the  Florentine  women  were  in 
love  with  him,  old  and  young,  small  and  great.  But 
perhaps  it  might  be  thought  that  Nature,  who  in  a 
malignant  sportive  mood  had  bestowed  so  mean  a  pre- 
sence upon  a  great  monarch,  had  presented  him  by  way 
of  compensation  writh  surpassing  gifts  of  intellect.  The 
King's  mind,  however,  was  fully  as  mis-shapen  as  his 
diminutive  body,  for  according  to  all  contemporary 
chroniclers,  Charles  of  France  was  weak,  vacillating, 
timid,  cunning  and  appallingly  ignorant ;  indeed,  his  sole 
distinguishing  quality,  which  wras  not  a  vice,  seems  to 
have  been  a  vague  but  insatiable  craving  for  military 
glory.  His  lust  and  gluttony  were  patent  to  all,  whilst 
his  vaunted  virtues  were  imperceptible  ;  he  had  the  brain 
of  an  idiot  and  the  tastes  of  a  satyr.  Such  was  the 
sovereign  whom  Ludovico  Sforza  had  called  upon  to 
cross  the  Alps  and  act  as  the  arbiter  of  the  fortunes  of 
Italy  ;  such  was  the  creature  whom  Savonarola  now  pre- 
sented to  the  people  of  Florence  as  the  scourge  of  tyrants 
and  the  champion  of  popular  rights,  as  God's  own  des- 
tined instrument  to  chastise  and  purge  His  Church. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  three  brothers  were  joined 
at  Bologna  by  another  fugitive  member  of  their  House, 
Giulio,  the  bastard  son  of  Giuliano  the  Elder,  who  had 
managed  to  escape  from  Pisa,  where  he  was  then  study- 
ing. Nearly  of  an  age  with  his  cousin  Giuliano  the 

1  Landucci,  p.  80  :  "In  vero  era  molto  piccolo  uomo  !  " 


46  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Younger,  Giulio  had  originally  been  brought  up  as  a 
soldier  by  his  uncle  Lorenzo,  who  had  acknowledged 
him  for  a  nephew  and  had  contrived  to  get  him  enrolled 
one  of  the  Knights  of  Rhodes ;  but  later,  on  the  boy's 
expressing  a  desire  for  an  ecclesiastical  career,  he  had 
been  nominated  prior  of  Capua  and  despatched,  like  his 
cousin  Giovanni  before  him,  to  study  canon  law  at  Pisa. 
As  a  recognised  bastard  of  a  great  house,  Giulio  took  an 
unbounded  pride  in  his  family,  and  manifested  an  intense 
desire  to  serve  it  in  every  way,  so  that  early  in  life  he 
began  to  attach  himself  to  his  cousin  Giovanni,  following 
and  waiting  on  the  latter  alike  in  good  and  evil  fortune 
till  the  day  of  his  death.  The  three  brothers  quickly 
dispersed  to  different  parts  of  Italy  ;  Piero  following  the 
camps,  Giuliano  chiefly  remaining  at  the  courts  of  Urbino 
and  Mantua,  where  his  accomplishments  no  less  than  his 
buoyant  good  nature  made  him  a  special  favourite  with 
the  reigning  families  of  Gonzaga  and  Montefeltre  ;  whilst 
the  Cardinal,  always  accompanied  by  the  faithful  Giulio, 
spent  much  of  his  time  in  Rome,  although  the  Eternal 
City  under  the  rule  of  the  Borgias  was  scarcely  reckoned 
either  a  safe  or  a  respectable  residence  for  a  young  prince 
of  the  Church.  During  the  years  succeeding  the  events 
of  November,  1494,  no  fewer  than  five  attempts  were 
made  by  the  expelled  Medici  to  regain  the  city  of  Flor- 
ence with  the  assistance  of  their  political  friends,  but  all 
failed  miserably,  partly  owing  to  the  unforeseen  chances 
of  an  adverse  fate,  but  largely  on  account  of  Piero's  un- 
rivalled incapacity.  It  is  wholly  beyond  the  scope  of 
this  work  to  follow  in  detail  the  course  of  these  fruitless 
efforts  or  their  accompanying  intrigues,  except  to  state 
that  ere  long  both  Giovanni  and  Giuliano  relinquished 
all  chance  of  success  for  the  time  being.  At  length, 
wearied  out  with  the  hopeless  task  of  attempting  to  re- 


MISFORTUNE  AND  EXILE  47 

cover  that  which  seemed  for  the  nonce  irretrievably  lost, 
and  living  in  constant  dread  of  Alexander's  suspected 
enmity,  the  young  Cardinal  applied  to  the  Pope  for  per- 
mission to  leave  Italy  in  order  to  travel  in  foreign  lands. 
As  Giovanni  de'  Medici  was  not  rich  nor  his  family  any 
longer  of  importance  in  Italian  politics,  so  that  he  pos- 
sessed little  value  as  a  hostage,  the  Pontiff  consented  to 
this  request,  whereupon  the  future  Leo  X.  and  the  future 
Clement  VII.,  with  ten  chosen  friends  of  congenial  habits 
and  ideas,  departed  from  Rome  on  their  intended  ex- 
pedition. Having  reached  Venice,  the  Cardinal  laid 
aside  the  signs  of  his  rank,  so  that  the  whole  party  might 
appear  dressed  alike,  and  in  this  manner  the  twelve 
travellers  crossed  the  Alps  to  seek  consolation  for  the 
fallen  fortunes  of  the  House  of  Medici  in  the  novel  ex- 
citement of  beholding  strange  nations  and  of  visiting  the 
famous  towns  of  Northern  Europe. 

Their  first  country  to  sojourn  in  was  Bavaria,  where 
they  expressed  their  delight  at  the  beautiful  buildings 
of  Nuremberg  and  Ratisbon,  nor  was  their  pleasure 
lessened  by  the  terms  of  perfect  equality  on  which  all 
existed.  For  every  night  it  was  customary  amongst 
them  to  choose  by  lot  a  leader  for  the  ensuing  day, 
whose  commands  all  were  obliged  to  obey  without 
question.  And  in  thus  manfully  setting  at  defiance 
the  blows  of  ill-fortune,  the  Medici  was  wont  to  declare 
in  after  years  that  neither  before  nor  since  had  he  en- 
joyed so  much  true  freedom  of  thought  and  action.  At 
Ulm,  however,  the  identity  of  this  distinguished  traveller 
became  recognised,  on  which  the  Emperor  Maximilian, 
who  had  always  kept  the  warmest  regard  for  the  memory 
of  the  Magnificent  Lorenzo,  at  once  summoned  his  old 
friend's  son  to  his  presence.  On  hearing  from  Giovanni's 
own  lips  the  reason  of  this  pilgrimage,  Maximilian's 


48  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

admiration  was  raised,  and  after  prophesying  a  brighter 
future  for  the  Medici,  he  immediately  congratulated  his 
visitor  upon  his  recent  decision  thus  to  turn  his  evil  fate 
to  such  good  account ; — far  better  it  was,  said  he,  for  a 
man,  however  highly  placed,  to  enlarge  his  mind  by  the 
study  of  men  and  manners  abroad,  than  to  sulk  in  luxuri- 
ous idleness  at  home.1 

Wending  their  way  up  the  rich  valley  of  the  Rhine 
with  its  thriving  towns,  this  band  of  Italian  exiles  reached 
Brussels,  where  they  were  hospitably  entertained  by 
Don  Philip,  the  Emperor's  son,  on  the  strength  of  his 
father's  warm  recommendation.  From  Brussels  Giovanni 
and  his  companions  proceeded  westward  till  they  found 
themselves  at  Terouenne  near  the  Flemish  coast,  at 
which  point  a  difference  of  opinion  arose  as  to  the  advis- 
ability of  crossing  the  sea  so  as  to  visit  England,  a  pro- 
ject on  which  the  future  Leo  X.  it  seems  had  set  his 
heart.  It  would  indeed  have  been  interesting  to  be  able 
to  record  a  visit  of  the  Medici  to  our  island,  and  still 
more  so  to  learn  his  impressions  of  London  and  its  in- 
habitants, but  unfortunately  the  Cardinal's  plan  was 
over-ruled  by  the  majority  of  the  party,  who  positively 
refused  to  embark.  Their  course  was  accordingly 
directed  into  France,  in  which  country  a  curious  mis- 
adventure befel  the  whole  party,  for  at  Rouen  the 
magistrates  of  that  town  made  them  all  prisoners  in 
spite  of  Giovanni's  protestations  and  open  disclosure  of 
his  rank ;  nor  was  it  until  letters  from  King  Louis  had 
been  received  that  the  innocent  wanderers  were  released 
by  the  obstinate  Frenchmen,  whom  Giovio  consequently 
describes  as  hasty  and  suspicious  as  a  nation.  On  be- 
ing at  last  set  at  liberty,  the  Cardinal  and  his  friends 

1  Jovius,  lib.  i. 


MISFORTUNE  AND  EXILE  49 

were  allowed  to  travel  unmolested  across  France,  until 
they  reached  Marseilles,  where  they  chartered  a  ship  for 
their  conveyance  to  Italy,  for  apparently  the  aspect  of 
the  sunny  Mediterranean  did  not  appear  so  alarming  to 
the  less  adventurous  members  of  the  party  as  the  grey 
waters  of  the  English  Channel.  But  scarcely  had  they 
embarked  than  a  succession  of  inopportune  squalls  com- 
pelled the  captain  to  keep  under  lee  of  the  Genoese 
coast,  until  worn  and  weakened  by  the  discomforts  of 
their  protracted  voyage,  by  an  unanimous  vote  they 
decided  to  land  at  Savona.  Here,  in  the  native  town 
of  his  own  humble  ancestors,  they  unexpectedly  found 
Cardinal  Giuliano  Delia  Rovere,  an  exile  from  Alexander's 
wrath,  who  gave  a  warm  welcome  to  Giovanni  and 
Giulio  de'  Medici,  and  at  this  point  Leo's  first  biographer 
mentions  with  proud  satisfaction  a  certain  historic  meal, 
whereat  there  sat  down  to  table  the  three  famous 
Churchmen,  each  of  them  at  that  moment  in  evil  plight, 
but  each  destined  later  to  wear  the  tiara  successively 
as  Julius  II.,  Leo  X.  and  Clement  VII.  Bidding  fare- 
well to  Delia  Rovere,  Giovanni  de'  Medici  continued 
his  journey  to  Genoa,  where  he  remained  for  some  time 
as  the  guest  of  his  sister  Maddalena,  the  wife  of  the 
peace-loving  Francesco  Cybo.1 

With  the  opening  of  the  new  century  the  political 
situation  in  Italy  underwent  a  complete  transformation. 
In  the  summer  of  1503,  Alexander  expired  suddenly  at 
the  Vatican,  and,  as  Caesar  Borgia  lay  helpless  on  a 
sick-bed  at  this  critical  moment,  the  conclave  was  en- 
abled to  hold  its  proceedings  without  fear  of  any  disturb- 
ing influence  from  that  dreaded  quarter.  On  this  occasion 
the  most  exemplary  member  of  the  Sacred  College  was 

1  Jovius,  lib.  ii. 


elected  to  the  vacant  throne  in  the  person  of  Francesco 
Piccolomini,  who  out  of  compliment  to  his  famous  uncle l 
assumed  the  title  of  Pius  III.  But  the  new  Pontiff  was 
already  fast  sinking  to  the  grave  at  the  very  time  of  the 
conclave — a  circumstance  that  perhaps  in  some  degree 
prompted  the  choice  of  the  cardinals.  To  the  disappoint- 
ment of  all  Italy,  but  scarcely  to  the  surprise  of  the 
Roman  court,  the  new  Pope  only  survived  his  elevation 
twenty -six  days,  dying  on  i8th  October — "What  boots 
it  to  be  pious,  when  an  evil  Alexander  is  permitted  to 
reign  for  years,  and  a  Pius  for  scarce  a  month  ? "  de- 
manded an  indignant  epigrammatist,  when  the  fatal  in- 
telligence was  spread  abroad.  Once  more  the  conclave 
assembled,  and  as  on  this  occasion  Giuliano  Delia 
Rovere,  by  means  of  a  secret  compact  with  the  now 
partially  recovered  Caesar  Borgia,  obtained  the  votes 
of  the  Spanish  cardinals,  he  was  finally  chosen  Pope  on 
ist  November  by  the  name  of  Julius  II.  Nor  did 
this  fateful  year  draw  to  its  close  without  producing 
one  more  event  of  importance  to  the  House  of  Medici, 
for  on  28th  December,  during  the  rout  of  the  French  by 
the  Spaniards  under  the  celebrated  "Gran  Capitan," 
Gonsalvo  da  Cordova,  poor  Piero  de'  Medici,  who  as 
usual  was  serving  with  the  losing  army,  terminated  his 
useless  existence.  For  on  trying  to  cross  the  swollen 
stream  of  the  Garigliano  after  the  battle,  the  vessel  bear- 
ing Piero  and  his  cousin  Paolo  Orsini,  together  with  a 
number  of  refugees  and  four  pieces  of  artillery,  foundered 
and  sank  in  deep  water.  Piero's  body,  recovered  many 
days  later  in  the  shallows  near  the  river's  mouth,  wras 
conveyed  to  the  great  Benedictine  abbey  of  Monte 
Cassino  hard  by,  of  which  his  brother  the  Cardinal  was 

Sylvius  Piccolomini  of  Siena,  Pope  Pius  II. 


MISFORTUNE  AND  EXILE  51 

titular  abbot,  and  here  it  was  buried  with  due  display  of 
military  honours.  Yet  nearly  fifty  years  were  allowed 
to  elapse  before  a  monument  was  erected  to  the  deceased 
prince,  whose  memory  was  perhaps  not  held  very  dear 
by  his  surviving  brothers.  In  1552,  however,  the  first 
Grand-Duke  of  Tuscany  caused  a  splendid  tomb  from 
the  chisel  of  Francesco  Sangallo 1  to  be  raised  in  the  abbey 
church,  although  it  is  significant  to  note  that  in  its  ac- 
companying epitaph  no  mention  is  made  of  the  unhappy 
prince's  career  save  to  state  the  cause  of  his  early  death, 
and  to  tell  the  chance  visitor  that  he  was  the  son  of  the 
Magnificent  Lorenzo,  the  brother  of  Leo  X.,  and  the 
cousin-german  of  Clement  VII. 

By  his  wife,  Alfonsina  Orsini,  Piero  de'  Medici  left 
two  children  :  a  daughter  Clarice,  who  was  later  married 
to  the  Florentine  merchant-prince,  Filipppo  Strozzi ;  and 
a  son  and  heir,  Lorenzo,  afterwards  Duke  of  Urbino, 
who  had  been  born  two  years  prior  to  his  father's  head- 
long flight  from  his  capital  in  1494.  It  is  a  striking  but 
hardly  an  inexplicable  circumstance  that  with  the  pre- 
mature end  of  Piero  il  Pazzo,  the  fortunes  of  the  depressed 
House  of  Medici  began  steadily  to  improve,  as  the  old 
Emperor  Maximilian  had  predicted  to  the  despondent 
Cardinal  during  his  visit  to  Germany. 

1  Vasari,  Life  of  Fr.  Sangallo. 


CHAPTER  III 
RISE  TO  POWER  UNDER  JULIUS  II 

Julius  Secundus  loqiiitur. — "  I  raised  the  revenue.  I  invented  new 
offices  and  sold  them.  I  invented  a  way  to  sell  bishoprics  without 
simony.  ...  I  recoined  the  currency  and  made  a  great  sum  that 
way.  Then  I  annexed  Bologna  to  the  Holy  See.  I  beat  the 
Venetians.  I  jockeyed  the  Duke  of  Ferrara.  I  defeated  the  schis- 
matical  Council  by  a  sham  Council  of  my  own.  I  drove  the  French 
out  of  Italy,  and  I  would  have  driven  out  the  Spaniards  too,  if  the 
Fates  had  not  brought  me  to  death.  I  have  set  all  the  princes  of 
Europe  by  the  ears.  I  have  torn  up  treaties,  and  kept  large  armies 
in  the  field.  I  have  covered  Rome  with  palaces,  and  I  have  left 
five  million  ducats  in  the  treasury  behind  me.  ...  I  have  done  it 
all  myself  too.  I  owe  nothing  to  my  birth,  for  I  don't  know  who 
my  father  was ;  nothing  to  learning,  for  I  have  none ;  nothing  to 
youth,  for  I  was  old  when  I  began ;  nothing  to  popularity,  for  I  was 
hated  all  round  "  {Julius  Secundus  Exclusus). 

CARDINAL  Giovanni  de'  Medici  had  tasted 
enough  of  the  bitter  of  adversity  to  appre- 
ciate his  improved  position  due  to  the  death 
of  Alexander  VI.  and  the  election  of  Julius  II.  For 
the  last  nine  years  he  had  experienced  what  was 
practically  double  exile,  being  forcibly  kept  out  of  his 
native  Florence  and  at  the  same  time  rendered  chary 
of  settling  permanently  in  Rome,  which  was  in  reality 
also  his  rightful  abode.  Although  as  a  nephew  of 
Sixtus  IV.  the  new  Pope  looked  with  no  favourable 
eye  upon  the  political  pretensions  of  the  House  of 
Medici,  yet  Julius  was  personally  at  least  well-disposed 
towards  the  young  Cardinal.  In  any  case,  through  the 
untimely,  or  timely,  death  of  Piero,  Giovanni  de'  Medici 

52 


RISE  TO  POWER  UNDER  JULIUS  II  53 

had  become  a  personage  of  increased  consequence  in 
the  world  of  Italian  politics.  Piero's  only  son,  Lorenzo, 
was  but  eleven  years  old  when  his  parent  was  drowned 
in  the  Gariglianq,  so  that  Giovanni  now  came  to  be 
regarded  as  the  real  head  of  his  family,  and  it  was  to 
the  Cardinal  that  the  Medicean  party,  crushed  but  still 
capable  of  future  action,  now  turned  with  renewed  hopes 
of  success.  Living  with  Giovanni  in  his  Roman  palace 
(later  known  as  the  Palazzo  Madama),  not  far  from  the 
venerable  Pantheon  in  the  heart  of  the  mediaeval  city, 
were  the  cunning  Bernardo  Dovizi  and  the  ever-faithful 
Giulio  ;  whilst  often  residing  with  his  elder  brother  in 
Rome  was  Giuliano  de'  Medici,  one  of  the  most  esteemed 
princes  and  most  charming  personalities  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance,  "pre-eminent  above  all  other  men,"  quaintly 
observes  Giovio,  "by  reason  of  the  perfect  harmony  of 
virtues  abiding  in  his  nature  and  conduct".1  This  im- 
proved position  Giovanni  was  astute  enough  to  strengthen 
yet  further  by  trying  to  obtain  the  good  graces  of  the 
youthful  Cardinal  Galeotto  Franciotto,  the  Pope's  favourite 
nephew  and  papal  vice-chancellor.  Although  Giovio 
states  explicitly  that  this  newly  formed  intimacy  between 
the  Medici  and  Franciotto  had  its  origin  in  the  diplomatic 
aims  of  the  former  rather  than  in  any  mutual  inclination 
of  the  two  young  men,  yet  it  is  certain  that  ere  long 
Giovanni  grew  deeply  attached  to  Galeotto,  and  that 
the  sorrow  expressed  by  him  at  the  papal  nephew's 
sudden  and  premature  death  was  both  genuine  and 
abiding,  for  on  the  testimony  of  Tommaso  Inghirami, 
we  learn  that  in  after  years,  when  the  Cardinal  de' 
Medici  had  been  transformed  into  the  Pontiff  Leo  X., 
he  could  not  endure  to  hear  Galeotto's  name  men- 

1  Jovius,  lib.  i. 


54  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

tioned  in  his  presence,  and  if  anyone  were  so  care- 
less as  to  allude  to  his  passed  friend,  the  Pope  would 
invariably  turn  aside  his  face  to  hide  the  tears  he  was 
unable  to  repress.  And  in  the  Medici's  case  this  instance 
of  real  affection,  is  of  peculiar  interest,  for  with  the  excep- 
tion of  his  brother  Giuliano,  there  exists  no  record  of 
Leo  showing  any  strong  affection  towards  any  one  of 
his  contemporaries  save  this  nephew  of  Julius  II. 

With  the  renewal  of  public  confidence  in  Rome, 
Giovanni  prepared  to  enjoy  the  pleasant  existence  of  a 
prince  of  the  Church,  whose  personal  tastes,  derived  from 
his  illustrious  father,  had  early  marked  him  out  as  a 
leading  patron  of  the  literature  and  fine  arts  of  his  day, 
so  that  the  hospitable  Palazzo  Medici  soon  became  known 
as  a  prominent  literary  and  artistic  centre.  Painters, 
sculptors,  jewellers,  poets  and  scholars  all  found  a  hearty 
welcome  in  the  saloons  of  the  Medici,  whose  natural 
delight  in  music  also  induced  him  to  encourage  singers 
and  players  of  instruments,  who  were  engaged  to  perform 
at  the  many  sumptuous  banquets  that  he  gave,  notwith- 
standing the  dying  Lorenzo's  earnest  counsel  to  be 
moderate  in  all  things.  For  in  spite  of  numerous  bene- 
fices the  Cardinal  was  not  nearly  so  opulent  as  many  of 
the  colleagues  with  whom  he  endeavoured  to  vie,  nor 
was  his  extravagant  style  of  living  compensated  for  by 
any  aptitude  for  household  management  on  his  part. 
Even  the  prudent  Giulio's  economy  was  unable  to  pre- 
vent his  cousin  from  running  continually  into  debt,  an 
inconvenience  which  seemed  however  to  sit  very  lightly 
on  the  easy-going  Cardinal,  although  oftentimes  the  well- 
spread  table  stood  depleted  of  its  choicest  silver  vases 
and  goblets,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  plate  had  been 
deposited  temporarily  with  the  Roman  butchers  and  fish- 
mongers for  lack  of  ready  money.  As  the  Cardinal 


RISE  TO  POWER  UNDER  JULIUS  II  55 

preferred  to  risk  his  credit  rather  than  to  retrench,  debts 
rapidly  accumulated,  yet  he  only  declared  cheerfully  that 
men  of  mark  like  himself  were  specially  provided  for  by 
Heaven,  so  that  they  need  never  lack  long  for  all  that 
was  necessary,  if  only  they  kept  a  lively  faith  in  their 
predestined  good  fortune.1  When  the  daily  audiences 
were  finished,  and  the  last  scholar  with  his  poem  in 
manuscript  or  goldsmith  with  some  graceful  design  for  a 
ring  or  chalice  had  been  dismissed,  the  Cardinal  usually 
rode  out  into  the  Campagna  to  amuse  himself  with  hawk- 
ing or  hunting,  for  he  had  inherited  his  father's  love  of 
outdoor  sport.  This  period  of  daily  exercise  in  the  fresh 
air  was  of  peculiar  value  in  helping  to  reduce  the  already 
bulky  frame,  which  threatened  its  owner  with  excessive 
stoutness  at  no  distant  date,  unless  he  made  abundant 
use  of  the  remedies  which  Lorenzo  had  suggested  long 
ago  in  his  famous  letter.  But  this  pleasant  existence, 
wherein  business,  sport  and  culture  were  so  agreeably 
blended,  this  daily  life  of  entertaining  and  of  being  enter- 
tained, of  encouraging  obsequious  scholars  who  hung 
intent  on  his  shrewd  criticisms,  and  of  examining  or  buy- 
ing works  of  art,  could  not  long  continue  undisturbed 
under  such  a  Pontiff  as  the  vigorous  old  man  who  had 
lately  ascended  the  throne  of  St.  Peter. 

Julius  II.  undoubtedly  shone  as  a  great  states- 
man, but  he  was  in  reality  a  greater  warrior,  for  much 
as  he  busied  himself  in  the  finer  arts  of  diplomacy, 
in  his  heart  he  preferred  the  rough  life  of  the  camp  to  the 
deliberations  of  the  council-chamber.  At  the  date  of 
his  election  all  Italy  was  at  peace,  with  the  exception  of 
the  endless  war  between  Florence  and  her  revolted 
colony  of  Pisa.  Yet  this  state  of  quiescence  was  but  the 

1Jovius,  lib.  ii. 


56  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

ominous  lull  before  the  approaching  storm,  for  the  ponti- 
ficate of  Julius  was  fated  to  be  remembered  as  the  most 
turbulent  and  bloody  in  the  annals  of  the  Papacy,  a  cir- 
cumstance for  which  the  ambitious  policy  of  Julius  him- 
self was  mainly  responsible.  At  his  accession  the  French 
were  firmly  established  in  the  Milanese ;  the  Spaniards 
were  masters  of  Naples ;  Venice  was  busily  engaged  in 
annexing  one  by  one  the  various  towns  of  the  Romagna, 
which  had  recently  formed  part  of  Csesar  Borgia's 
short-lived  duchy,  whilst  she  was  also  strengthening  her 
position  along  the  seaboard  of  the  Adriatic.  Such  a 
situation  was  bound  to  lead  to  mischief  in  the  near  future, 
and  although  the  presence  of  two  sets  of  invaders  con- 
stituted at  once  a  menace  and  a  disgrace  to  Italy  as  a 
whole,  yet  it  was  the  growing  predominance  of  Venice 
amongst  the  Italian  states  that  most  of  all  excited  the 
alarm  of  Julius,  whose  aim  was  now  directed  to  prevent 
the  Venetian  Republic  from  becoming  the  dictator  of 
Italy,  in  reality  her  only  possible  means  of  salvation  from 
the  designs  of  these  foreigners.  In  the  first  place  to 
humble  and  cripple  Venice,  and  in  so  doing  to  extend 
the  boundaries  of  the  Holy  See ;  then  to  rouse  the  whole 
Italian  nation  and  by  one  united  effort  to  free  Italian 
soil  from  the  polluting  presence  of  the  "  Barbarians"  j1- 
such  was  the  ardent  desire  of  Julius,  which  like  many 
another  grandiose  conception  was  entirely  local  and  self- 
ish in  its  main  object,  and  patriotic  only  in  a  secondary 
sense. 

In  the  military  expeditions  and  deep-laid  schemes  of 

1The  contemptuous  epithet  of  "  Barbarian  "  is  fiercely  repudiated 
by  the  author  of  the  Julius  Exclusus,  who  lays  stress  on  the  mongrel 
pedigree  of  the  Italian  people,  "  who  are  but  a  conglomerate  of  all  the 
barbarous  nations  in  the  world,  a  mere  heap  of  dirt,  yet  they  are 
absurd  enough  to  call  everyone  not  born  in  Italy  a  barbarian  !  " 


JULIUS    II.    CARDINAL    DK     MKDICI    AND   OTHKKS 


57 

this  Pope,  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici  had  for  the  first  time 
an  opportunity  to  display  his  inherent  diplomatic  ability 
both  in  humouring  the  irascible  Julius  and  in  silently 
building  up  the  collapsed  fortunes  of  his  own   House. 
That  the  utmost  caution  and  dissimulation  had  always 
to  be  practised  by  the  young  Cardinal  will  appear  obvious 
at  once  to  those  who  care  to  study  the  characters  of  the 
two  men,  for  it  would  be  well-nigh  impossible  to  name 
two  great  historical  types  more  diverse  from  every  point 
of  view  than  the  reigning  Pontiff  and  the  future  Leo  X. 
Thus  the    Medici    was    a   young    man    barely    thirty 
years  of  age,  just  beginning  to  creep  warily  into  that 
treacherous  sea  of  Italian  statecraft ;  Julius,  on  the  other 
hand,  had  many  years  behind  him  of  varied  political  ex- 
perience, whilst  he  was  considered  venerable  in  having 
passed  his  sixtieth  year  in  an  age  wherein  medical  at- 
tentions often  proved  more  disastrous  than  disease  itself. 
Julius    was    violent,    arrogant    and    ill-tempered ;    the 
Cardinal  was  always  calm,  suave  and  credited  with  a 
remarkable  mildness  of  disposition,  upon  which  all  con- 
temporary writers  emphatically  dwell.     The  Pope,  sprung 
from  a  plebeian  stock,  the  grandson  of  a  Genoese  fisher- 
man, with  a  peasant's  coarseness  and  garrulity  ;  Medici, 
a  cultured  Florentine  scholar  with  a  Roman  princess  for 
his  mother,  ever  scrupulously  courteous  even  under  severe 
provocation  and  with  a  complete  mastery  over  that  un- 
ruly member,  the  tongue.     The  Pope  was  fond  of  an 
active  military  life,  loving  camps  and  sieges,  not  refusing 
to  partake  of  the  coarse  fare  of  his  soldiers  nor  even 
objecting  to  use  their  oaths  under  stress  of  excitement ; 
whilst  the  fastidious  Cardinal  had  a   perfect   horror  of 
martial  savagery  and  bloodshed,  and  undoubtedly  held 
opinions,  which  were  none  the  less  strong  because  they 
had  to  be  kept  secret,  concerning  the  propriety  of  a  Roman 


58  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Pontiff  taking  the  field  in  person  like  a  general.  Julius, 
although  he  gave  commissions  to  Raphael  and  Michel- 
angelo, had  no  real  sympathy  with  art,  which  he  regarded 
solely  as  an  useful  means  of  recording  his  own  prowess ; 
he  was  notoriously  unlearned,  and  at  times  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  express  his  contempt  for  the  classical  literature 
wherewith  his  own  court  was  so  deeply  engrossed  :  "  Put 
a  sword  in  my  hand,  not  a  book,  for  I  am  no  schoolman  !  " 
had  replied  the  plain-spoken  Pontiff  to  Michelangelo, 
when  the  sculptor  asked  him  to  suggest  a  fit  emblem  for 
the  Pope's  bronze  statue  to  be  erected  in  Bologna.  Of 
the  Medici's  true  understanding  of  art  and  letters,  it  is 
needless  to  speak  here.  In  outward  appearance,  as  in 
age,  the  two  Churchmen  offered  the  strongest  contrast ; 
Julius  spare,  bearded — he  was  the  first  Pontiff  to  wear 
hair  on  his  chin — alert  in  defiance  of  his  years ;  the 
Cardinal,  corpulent  despite  his  youth,  slow  in  his  move- 
ments and  constantly  requiring  spectacles  or  spy-glass 
to  aid  his  feeble  vision.  Nevertheless,  although  the  two 
men  differed  in  appearance,  aims,  ideas,  age,  learning, 
manners  and  morals,  it  was  now  the  manifest  duty  of 
the  younger  man  to  pay  court  to  the  reigning  Pope,  in 
order  to  obtain  the  full  amount  of  sympathy  and  con- 
fidence necessary  for  the  intended  restoration  of  the 
Medici  to  Florence,  which  at  this  period  of  his  career 
formed  without  doubt  the  overwhelming  desire  of  the 
future  Leo  X. 

In  the  height  of  the  summer  of  1507,  Cardinal  de' 
Medici  received  a  foretaste  of  Julius'  methods  of  cam- 
paigning, when  he  accompanied  his  master  on  the  expedi- 
tion to  reduce  Perugia  and  Bologna,  both  cities  being 
nominally  fiefs  of  the  Church.  Twenty-four  cardinals  in 
all  swelled  the  papal  train,  yet  only  500  men-at-arms 
were  engaged  for  their  protection,  so  that  it  speaks  elo- 


RISE  TO  POWER  UNDER  JULIUS  II  59 

quently  for  the  intense  terror  which  the  name  of  Julius 
had  already  inspired  throughout  Italy,  that  on  the  Pope 
reaching  Orvieto,  Gian-Paolo  Baglioni,  tyrant  of  Perugia, 
should  have  hastened  to  come  in  person  to  make  his  sub- 
mission. Julius  received  this  treacherous  vassal  of  the 
Church  with  lofty  condescension,  and  without  waiting  to 
collect  an  adequate  army,  pressed  forward  to  seize  the 
surrendered  city  :  a  piece  of  wilful  rashness,  which  aroused 
the  wonder,  or  rather  the  deep  disappointment  of 
Machiavelli,  who  has  criticised  this  hasty  action  of  the 
Pope  and  the  cowardly  complaisance  of  Baglioni  in  one 
of  the  most  famous  passages  of  the  Discorsi.  There 
could  be  no  question  that  Julius  ran  the  gravest  risk  in 
thus  placing  himself  and  all  his  court  at  the  mercy  of  one 
who  was  in  reality  an  aristocratic  brigand  with  a  small 
but  well-trained  army.  The  defenceless  condition  of  the 
Pontiffand  his  cardinals,  together  with  the  vast  amount  of 
treasure  in  their  luxurious  trains,  must  have  been  apparent 
to  the  greedy  eyes  of  the  Umbrian  tyrant ;  nevertheless, 
he  shrank  from  committing  a  sacrilegious  crime  on  so 
grand  a  scale,  and  for  his  omission  thus  to  purchase  an 
undying  reputation  for  good  or  ill,  Machiavelli  has  cen- 
sured the  hesitating  Baglioni  in  the  bitter  language  of 
which  he  was  an  acknowledged  master,  and  in  terms 
clearly  expressive  of  his  own  detestation  of  the  methods 
of  the  warrior  Pope  : — 

"  Men  know  not  either  how  to  be  splendidly  wicked 
or  wholly  good,  and  they  shrink  in  consequence  from 
such  crimes  as  are  stamped  with  an  inherent  greatness 
or  disclose  a  nobility  of  nature.  For  which  reason 
Giovanpagolo,  who  thought  nothing  of  incurring  the  guilt 
of  incest  or  of  murdering  his  kinsmen,  could  not,  or  more 
truly  durst  not  avail  himself  of  a  fair  occasion  to  do  a 
deed  which  all  would  have  admired  ;  which  would  have 


60  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

won  for  him  a  deathless  fame  as  the  first  to  teach  the 
prelates  how  little  those  who  live  and  reign  as  they  do 
are  to  be  esteemed,  and  which  would  have  displayed  a 
greatness  far  transcending  any  infamy  or  danger  that 
could  attach  to  it"1 

From  Perugia  the  papal  army  and  its  followers  crossed 
the  Apennines  by  way  of  Gubbio  to  the  plains  of  the 
Romagna,  not  resting  till  they  reached  Cesena,  at  which 
place  the  Pope  had  arranged  to  meet  with  the  Cardinal 
d'  Amboise,  the  all-powerful  minister  of  Louis  XII.,  who 
in  return  for  sundry  favours  to  himself  and  his  nephews, 
was  prepared  to  withhold  French  aid  from  threatened 
Bologna.  Having  thus  bribed  France  to  complaisance, 
Julius  now  launched  one  of  his  bulls  of  excommunication 
against  Giovanni  Bentivoglio,  who  promptly  fled  from 
the  city  to  the  French  camp,  all  ignorant  of  the  shameless 
bargain  lately  concluded  between  the  Pope  and  the 
French  cardinal.  This  open  display  of  rank  cowardice 
on  the  part  of  the  old  tyrant  of  Bologna  must  have 
afforded  some  measure  of  satisfaction  to  Giovanni  de' 
Medici,  who  had  certainly  not  forgotten  Bentivoglio's 
ill-timed  merry-making  over  the  misfortunes  of  Piero  and 
himself  some  thirteen  years  before,  when  the  Medici  had 
been  forcibly  driven  from  Florence.  On  nth  November, 
Julius  entered  the  city  of  Bologna  in  state,  where,  as  befel 
every  Italian  conqueror  in  that  era  of  perpetual  change 
of  masters,  the  indifferent  populace  greeted  the  victorious 
Pope  as  a  liberator  and  benefactor,  as  a  second  and  a 
more  glorious  Julius  Caesar.  Amidst  waving  of  kerchiefs 
and  showers  of  late-blooming  roses,  the  self-satisfied 
Pontiff  proceeded  towards  the  vast  church  of  San 
Petronio,  nor  was  he  aware  that  in  the  midst  of  the 

lDiscorsi,  booki.,  chap,  xxvii. 


RISE  TO  POWER  UNDER  JULIUS  II  61 

applauding  crowds  stood  a  sharp-eyed  observant  traveller 
from  the  north  with  fur  collar  well  tucked  up  to  his  ears, 
who  was  watching  narrowly  the  passing  procession.  For 
by  a  curious  chance  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam  happened 
to  be  visiting  Bologna  at  the  very  moment  of  Benti- 
voglio's  flight  and  the  Pope's  triumphal  entry  into  the 
city,  so  that  to  feelings  outraged  by  such  a  spectacle  of 
worldliness  may  have  been  due  the  production  of  that 
striking  satire  called  t\\&  Julius  Exclusus — Pope  Julius 
excluded  from  Paradise — which  has  ever  been  attributed 
to  the  pen  of  the  great  Humanist  in  spite  of  his  repeated 
denials.  "  Would  that  you  could  have  seen  me  carried 
in  state  at  Bologna,  and  afterwards  in  Rome !  "  the  boast- 
ful Pontiff  is  made  to  exclaim  to  the  indignant  Apostle 
at  the  gate  of  Heaven.  "  Carriages  and  horses,  troops 
under  arms,  generals  prancing  and  galloping,  handsome 
pages,  torches  flaming,  dishes  steaming,  pomp  of  bishops, 
glory  of  cardinals,  trophies,  spoils,  shouts  that  rent  the 
heavens,  trumpets  blaring,  cannon  thundering,  largesse 
scattered  among  the  mob,  and  I  borne  aloft,  the  head  and 
author  of  it  all !  Scipio  and  Csesar  were  nothing  in 
comparison  with  me  !  "  In  any  case  it  is  certain  that 
Erasmus  was  an  interested  eye-witness  of  the  strange 
scene  which  is  described  so  vividly  in  the  Pope's  apology 
for  his  life  to  the  Janitor  of  Heaven. 

So  far  the  cardinals,  whom  their  militant  master  had 
turned  into  lieutenants  of  his  warlike  enterprise,  had  not 
suffered  greatly  during  this  autumn  campaign.  True, 
they  had  endured  some  degree  of  misery  from  the  bites 
of  the  rapacious  mosquitoes  infesting  the  marshes  of  the 
Romagna,  to  which  their  disfigured  faces  bore  ample 

^•Julius  Exclusus.  A  Dialogue  in  the  form  of  a  drama  performed 
in  Paris  in  1514.  A  translation  of  this  amusing  work  is  included  in 
Froude's  Life  and  Letters  of  Erasmus,  Appendix  to  Lecture  VIII. 


62  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

testimony,1  but  the  ease  with  which  an  almost  unarmed 
Pope  could  reduce  in  so  short  a  space  of  time  and 
practically  without  carnage  two  of  the  most  important 
towns  in  central  Italy  must  have  given  intense  satisfac- 
tion to  those  members  of  the  Sacred  College  who  shared 
their  Pontiff's  views.  But  this  opening  campaign,  which 
seemed  little  short  of  a  triumphal  procession  with  none 
of  the  horrors  and  scarcely  any  of  the  hardships  of  war, 
was  destined  to  be  succeeded  by  many  stern  experiences. 
Towards  the  close  of  December,  1508,  the  celebrated 
League  of  Cambrai,  the  most  cherished  object  of  the 
papal  diplomacy,  was  concluded  between  France,  Spain, 
the  Empire  and  the  Papacy,  for  the  admitted  purpose  of 
stripping  Venice  of  all  her  dominions  on  the  mainland : 
a  political  combination  against  which  the  Republic  of  St. 
Mark  made  a  most  feeble  show  of  resistance.  Defeated 
by  the  French  troops  at  Vaila  and  despoiled  of  her 
colonies,  the  humiliated  state  was  ere  long  only  too 
thankful  to  implore  for  the  Pope's  mercy  and  the  bless- 
ing of  an  alliance  with  the  Holy  See.  Having  thus 
reduced  to  impotence  the  sole  Italian  state  which  seemed 
capable  of  resisting  the  foreign  invasion,  and  having  got 
the  towns  of  the  Romagna  into  his  own  hands,  Julius 
realised  that  the  primary  object  of  his  detestable  and 
unpatriotic  policy  had  been  secured,  and  now  that  the 
might  of  Venice  was  hopelessly  broken  for  the  sake  of 
a  few  miserable  fortresses,  he  was  anxious  to  obtain 
Venetian  co-operation  in  striking  a  severe  blow  at  French 
influence  in  Lombardy.  A  reconciliation  was  easily 
effected,  whereupon  the  Pope  promptly  seceded  from 
the  League  of  Cambrai,  even  boasting  that  by  such  a 
piece  of  perfidy  "  he  was  thrusting  a  dagger  into  the 

1  Adriano  da  Castello,  Creighton,  vol.  v.,  p.  102,  note  i. 


RISE  TO  POWER  UNDER  JULIUS  II  63 

side  of  the  French  King  ".  At  the  same  time  he  made 
arrangements  for  a  number  of  Swiss  mercenaries  to 
descend  upon  Milan  under  the  direction  of  his  devoted 
agent,  the  Cardinal  Matthew  Schinner  of  Sion  in  the 

o 

Valais,  who  had  lately  supplied  Julius  with  that  historic 
bodyguard  of  picked  mountaineers,  the  Swiss  Guard, 
who  in  their  quaint  parti-coloured  livery  have  continued 
for  nearly  four  centuries  to  keep  watch  and  ward  at  the 
portals  of  the  Vatican. 

Of  Julius'  endless  troubles,  secular  and  ecclesiastical, 
of  his  wars  and  sieges,  of  his  marches  and  counter- 
marches, of  his  massacres  and  excommunications,  we 
have  no  space  to  speak  in  a  work  which  is  wholly  con- 
cerned with  the  career  and  character  of  his  successors. 
But  on  1 3th  May,  1511,  Bologna,  "the  Jewel  of  the 
Pope's  crown,"  was  retaken  with  French  assistance  by 
Alfonso  d'  Este,  Duke  of  Ferrara,  who  signalised  his 
contempt  for  the  spiritual  fulminations  of  Julius  by  re- 
moving from  the  facade  of  San  Petronio  the  fine  bronze 
statue  of  the  militant  Pontiff,  a  justly  admired  work  of 
the  divine  Michelangelo.  Reserving  the  head  of  the 
figure  to  add  to  his  stock  of  curiosities  in  the  ducal 
museum  at  Ferrara,  the  dauntless  prince  had  a  large 
piece  of  artillery  cast  from  the  component  bronze,  which 
in  mockery  he  christened  "  Giulio,"  and  concerning 
which  he  wras  wont  to  indulge  in  many  a  coarse  jest. 
But  a  far  more  serious  incident  than  this  open  insult  to 
the  Pope  succeeded  the  fall  of  Bologna  :  an  incident 
which,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe,  made  an  indelible 
impression  on  the  mind  of  Cardinal  de'  Medici,  now  held 
in  the  highest  favour  by  Julius  and  recently  invested 
with  the  important  see  of  Amalfi.  The  late  capitulation 
of  Bologna  had  not  taken  place  without  manifest  signs 
of  treachery  on  the  part  of  its  Cardinal- Legate,  the 


64  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

worthless  Francesco  Alidosi,  Bishop  of  Pavia,  detested 
by  all  decent  men  but  adored  for  some  mysterious 
reason  by  the  Pontiff,  who  placed  absolute  confidence  in 
Alidosi's  good  faith  and  personal  devotion  towards  him- 
self. After  the  recapture  of  the  city,  which  was  on  all 
sides  attributed  to  the  venal  aims  of  this  papal  minion, 
the  Cardinal- Legate  proceeded  to  Ravenna,  where  on 
entering  into  the  Pope's  apartment,  he  threw  himself  at 
his  indulgent  master's  feet  and  openly  accused  Julius' 
own  nephew,  Francesco- Maria  Delia  Rovere,  Duke  of 
Urbino,  of  having  been  the  cause  of  the  late  catastrophe. 
So  deep-rooted  was  the  Pope's  infatuation  for  Alidosi, 
that  he  at  once  turned  upon  the  duke,  who  was  standing 
beside  his  throne,  and  with  threats  and  curses — and 
Julius  was  ever  an  adept  at  foul  invective — drove  the 
young  man,  his  own  nephew  and  heir,  from  his  presence 
on  the  mere  word  of  one  who  was  commonly  reported 
a  liar  and  a  villain.  Successful  in  his  mission  and  more 
confident  than  ever  of  the  papal  protection,  Alidosi 
quitted  the  palace  in  high  spirits  to  return  to  his  castle 
of  Rivo,  when  at  an  evil  moment  in  one  of  the  streets  of 
Ravenna  he  chanced  to  meet  with  the  retiring  Duke  of 
Urbino.  With  ill-timed  levity  the  triumphant  Legate 
must  needs  jeer  at  the  crestfallen  prince,  whereupon, 
infuriated  beyond  all  control  by  this  last  insult,  Delia 
Rovere  leaped  from  his  horse  and  with  naked  sword 
rushed  upon  his  traducer,  flinging  him  off  his  mule  and 
raining  blow  after  blow  upon  the  defenceless  Churchman 
as  he  lay  writhing  and  screaming  in  the  mire  of  the 
street.  "  Take  that,  you  traitor !  and  that,  and  that, 
and  that  for  your  deserts  !  "  cried  the  duke,  until  having 
dealt  his  prostrate  foe  some  half-dozen  strokes  on  the 
head  and  body,  he  left  the  corpse  to  be  hacked  to  pieces 
by  some  of  his  attendants.  "  A  favourite  has  no  friends," 


65 

—particularly  a  favourite  of  the  type  of  Alidosi — so  that 
many  persons,  including  the  Legate's  own  servants, 
looked  on  unconcernedly  upon  this  murder  of  an  un- 
popular Churchman  in  broad  daylight.  Having  com- 
pleted the  foul  deed,  the  living  secular  tyrant  fled  with 
his  train  towards  the  lofty  citadel  of  Urbino,  leaving  the 
dead  ecclesiastical  tyrant  a  shapeless  blood-stained  mass 
in  the  mean  lane  of  Ravenna.  Even  in  those  days  of 
universal  violence  and  crime  such  an  act  of  combined 
sacrilege  and  brutal  revenge  stands  without  parallel,  so 
that  it  is  highly  probable  that  Leo's  subsequent  hatred 
of  Alidosi's  murderer  arose  originally  from  his  feelings 
of  horror  at  this  assassination  of  one  who,  however  vile 
and  unscrupulous,  was  yet  a  Cardinal- Legate  and  a 
bishop.  But  of  this  matter  we  intend  to  speak  more 
fully  in  a  later  chapter.  It  is  enough  to  state  here  that 
the  sympathies  of  the  common  people  lay  as  usual  with 
the  aggressor,  and  that  the  cry  was  raised  on  all  sides, 
"  Blessed  be  the  Duke  of  Urbino  !  Blessed  is  the  death 
of  his  victim  !  Blessed  be  the  name  of  God,  from  Whom 
all  good  things  do  proceed  !  "  In  fact,  Julius  alone  of 
all  men  expressed  grief  at  the  news  of  the  wretched 
Alidosi's  fate  ;  he  beat  his  breast,  he  refused  food,  and 
as  he  was  being  conveyed  that  night  towards  Rimini 
from  Ravenna — a  place  now  grown  hateful  to  him  in 
his  bereavement — his  attendants  could  hear  loud  cries 
of  impotent  rage  and  deep  groans  of  sorrow  issuing  from 
the  curtained  litter  of  this  extraordinary  old  man.  When 
the  violence  of  his  grief  had  somewhat  spent  itself,  Julius 
appointed  a  committee  of  four  cardinals,  amongst  them 
being  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  to  make  a  full  inquiry  into 
the  conduct  of  the  Duke  of  Urbino  ;  nor  was  it  until 

1  Diary  of  Paris  de  Grassis,  Creighton,  vol.   v.,  Appendix,   pp. 
309-311. 

5 


66  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

many  months  had  elapsed  that  the  Pope,  at  last  con- 
vinced of  Alidosi's  acts  of  treachery  in  the  past,  finally 
consented  to  receive  his  heir  back  into  favour. 

At  the  close  of  this  same  year  1511,  the  Holy  League 
between  Spain,  Venice,  England  and  the  Holy  See,  an- 
other political  creation  of  the  Pope's  fertile  brain,  was  in- 
augurated with  the  expressed  object  of  driving  the  French 
out  of  Italy.  A  new  papal  army,  composed  chiefly  of 
Spanish  infantry  under  Raymond  de  Cardona,  viceroy  of 
Naples,  and  of  Italian  cavalry  under  Fabrizio  Colonna,  was 
now  formed  to  re-conquer  the  lost  cities  of  the  Romagna, 
and  of  this  mixed  force  Cardinal  de'  Medici  was  named 
Legate  :  an  appointment  clearly  showing  how  successful 
had  been  Lorenzo's  son  in  his  supreme  efforts  to  win  the 
complete  confidence  of  a  Pope  who  was  originally  chary 
of  trusting  a  Medici.  Early  in  the  new  year  the  papal 
forces  advanced  to  the  siege  of  Bologna,  now  held  by  the 
re-instated  Bentivogli  with  the  aid  of  French  troops  under 
Lautrec  and  Yves  d'Allegre.  In  order  to  effect  a  breach 
in  the  walls,  the  Spanish  engineer,  Pedro  Navarro,  laid 
his  mines  at  a  certain  point  of  the  rampart  which  was 
dominated  by  a  chapel  of  the  Virgin,  consequently  known 
as  La  Madonna  del  Barbacane.  The  attempt  was  suc- 
cessful in  its  initial  stage,  for  on  the  fuse  being  ignited,  the 
Cardinal  and  the  besieging  army  saw  the  fragment  of 
wall  blown  high  into  the  air,  and  then  to  their  amazement 
and  terror  (so  Jovius  gravely  informs  his  readers)  they 
beheld  wall  and  chapel  descend  uninjured  and  fit  them- 
selves again  into  the  breach  made  by  Navarro' s  explosion.1 
The  spectacle  of  this  military  miracle  caused  a  profound 
impression  both  amongst  the  soldiers  of  the  papal  army 
and  the  defenders  of  the  city  ;  and  whatsoever  phenomenon 

1  Jovius,  lib.  ii. 


RISE  TO  POWER  UNDER  JULIUS  II  67 

may  have  happened  on  this  occasion,  it  is  evident  that 
some  curious  incident,  ascribed  by  all  present  to  Divine 
interposition,  raised  the  spirits  of  the  besieged  and  de- 
pressed those  of  their  assailants  at  a  most  critical  moment. 
In  any  case,  the  delivery  of  the  beleaguered  town  was 
close  at  hand,  for  the  famous  Gaston  de  Foix,  a  prince  of 
the  royal  House  of  Navarre,  who  flashes  for  a  brief  moment 
like  some  brilliant  meteor  across  the  troubled  sky  of  the 
Italian  wars,  suddenly  appeared  within  sight  of  the  towers 
of  Bologna.  The  timely  arrival  of  Gaston  and  his  vic- 
torious troops,  fresh  from  the  sack  of  unhappy  Brescia, 
was  the  signal  for  the  immediate  retirement  of  the  army 
of  the  Holy  League.  Having  relieved  Bologna,  Gaston 
next  pressed  on  to  Ravenna,  which  was  stubbornly  held 
against  his  attack  by  the  Colonnas  and  their  Roman 
followers.  Meanwhile  the  Cardinal- Legate,  in  duty 
bound  to  succour  Ravenna,  decided  to  advance,  and  to 
encamp  about  three  miles  from  the  town,  at  a  spot  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  famous  basilica  of  Sant'  Apollinare 
in  Classe.  The  united  forces  of  France  and  of  Ferrara 
had  already  taken  up  a  strong  position  midway  between 
the  streams  of  the  Montone  and  the  Ronco,  which  join  at 
Ponte  dell'  Asse,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  to  the  south  of 
Ravenna.  The  numbers  on  both  sides  were  fairly  equal, 
but  the  advantage  of  generalship  lay  obviously  with  the 
French,  who  possessed  Gaston  himself,  Alfonso  of  Ferrara, 
Yves  d'Allegre,  La  Pallice  and  a  host  of  other  accom- 
plished leaders.  On  the  part  of  the  League,  Fabrizio 
Colonna,  the  cavalry  commander,  was  reputed  to  be  head- 
strong, whilst  Raymond  de  Cardona,  in  the  elegant  words 
of  Jovius,  "shone  more  in  civil  life  than  on  the  battle- 
field".1 

Blood-red   uprose   the    sun    upon    that   memorable 
1  Jovius,  lib.  ii. 


68  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Easter  morning,  which  fell  on  nth  April,  1512,  and  the 
superstitious  soldiers  in  either  camp  declared  that  the 
flushed  skies  denoted  the  coming  death  of  a  generalissimo, 
although  whether  of  Gaston  or  of  Cardona  remained  to 
be  seen.  Each  army  possessed  its  cardinal  in  attendance, 
for  with  the  French  was  Federigo  Sanseverino,  one  of 
Julius'  most  bitter  opponents  and  a  leading  supporter  of 
the  schismatic  Council  of  Pisa,  whose  gigantic  form 
encased  in  mail  was  prominent  on  a  huge  charger,  as  he 
rode  about  the  French  camp  performing  the  regular 
duties  of  an  officer.  Very  different  were  the  aspect  and 
behaviour  of  the  orthodox  legate.  Habited  in  his  flow- 
ing robes  of  scarlet  and  wearing  the  broad-brimmed  tas- 
selled  hat,  the  full  panoply  of  his  exalted  office,  Giovanni 
de'  Medici  made  a  conspicuous  figure,  as  bestriding  a 
white  palfrey  and  with  silver  cross  borne  before  him,1  he 
passed  along  the  ranks  of  the  Italians  and  Spaniards,  ex- 
horting the  soldiers  to  acts  of  valour  and  offering  up  prayers 
for  victory.  His  naturally  peaceful  disposition  made  the 
prospect  of  a  bloody  and  confused  engagement  singularly 
distasteful  to  him,  yet  the  position  of  legate  in  his  master's 
army  forbade  him  to  retire  from  the  scene  of  expected 
massacre,  although  in  any  case  his  defective  eyesight 
rendered  his  presence  on  the  battlefield  useless  in  victory 
and  a  cause  of  anxiety  in  the  event  of  defeat. 

The  fight  opened  with  a  duel  of  artillery,  for  which 
the  level  nature  of  the  battlefield  gave  full  scope,  and 
which  proved  all  to  the  advantage  of  the  French,  since 
Alfonso  of  Ferrara  had  long  been  paying  special  attention 
to  this  branch  of  warfare,  so  that  his  guns  were  the  best 
constructed  and  most  ably  served  in  all  Italy.  Colonna's 
cavalry  suffered  severely  from  this  heavy  and  well- 

1  He  is  so  represented  in  the  famous  Tapestries  of  Raphael,  see 
chapter  ix. 


RISE  TO  POWER  UNDER  JULIUS  II  69 

directed  cannonade,  but  the  Spanish  infantry,  reputed 
the  best  foot-soldiers  in  Europe,  escaped  almost  un- 
scathed owing  to  the  foresight  of  the  capable  Navarro, 
who  bade  his  men  lie  prone  upon  the  flat  surface  of  the 
plain,  so  long  as  the  murderous  hail  of  bullets  from  across 
the  intervening  Ronco  continued.  Colonna,  however, 
maddened  by  the  havoc  wrought  by  Duke  Alfonso's 
artillery  and  disgusted  with  what  he  deemed  the  cowardice 
of  the  Spaniards,  now  charged  headlong  towards  the 
river,  compelling  the  Spanish  infantry  to  follow  his  lead. 
Along  the  banks  of  the  Ronco  raged  the  battle  with 
almost  unparalleled  ferocity,  for  in  this  case  hatred  and 
jealousy  of  race  were  added  to  the  ordinary  lust  of 
fighting.  Richly  clad  in  a  mantle  distinguished  by  the 
heraldic  devices  of  the  royal  House  of  Navarre  and 
with  right  arm  left  bare  for  the  fleshing,  rode  hither  and 
thither  that  splendid  youth,  Gaston  de  Foix,  swearing  he 
would  never  quit  the  field  save  as  victor  and  urging  the 
troops  of  France  to  pursue  the  hard-pressed  Spaniards, 
who  were  slowly  retiring  in  good  order  long  after 
Colonna's  cavalry  had  been  scattered  to  the  four  winds. 
But  at  the  very  moment  when  the  battle  of  Ravenna 
was  actually  won,  and  the  enemy's  camp  already  cap- 
tured, Gaston  de  Foix,  forgetting  in  the  supreme  hour  of 
triumph  that  it  is  the  first  duty  of  every  capable  general 
to  safeguard  his  own  life,  must  needs  lose  everything  by 
a  piece  of  boyish  folly.  Streaming  with  sweat  and 
bespattered  with  human  brains  and  blood,  the  young 
leader,  flushed  with  victory  and  already  beholding 
visions  of  the  coveted  Neapolitan  crown  before  his 
dazzled  eyes,  spurred  in  person  after  Cardona's  retreating 
battalions.  In  mid-career  a  stray  bullet  knocked  the 
prince  headlong  from  his  charger  to  the  ground,  whence 
mortally  wounded  he  rolled  down  the  steep  bank  into 


7o  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

the  turbid  waters  of  the  Ronco.  In  vain  did  the  un- 
happy youth  cry  aloud  for  quarter,  shouting  to  the  savage 
Spanish  soldiery  above  him  that  he  was  the  brother 
of  their  own  queen ;  little  did  they  reck  at  such  a 
moment  of  their  victim's  birth  and  honours.  Pierced 
with  a  hundred  wounds  in  every  portion  of  his  body, 
Gaston  de  Foix  lost  at  once  the  hard-won  fruits  of 
his  victory  and  also  his  young  life  at  the  precise  moment 
when  he  seemed  to  hold  all  Italy  in  his  eager  and 
ambitious  grasp. 

Death  was  busy  amongst  the  leaders  in  both  armies, 
but  especially  in  that  of  the  French,  during  this  historic 
engagement,  wherein  at  least  20,000  men  are  said  to 
have  perished.  Amidst  the  universal  din  and  confusion, 
which  in  this  case  were  not  a  little  increased  by  the 
slaughter  of  so  many  generals  on  either  side,  young 
Giulio  de'  Medici,  as  usual  in  attendance  upon  his 
illustrious  cousin,  was  enabled  to  escape  in  the  mass 
of  terror-stricken  fugitives  to  Cesena ;  but  the  Cardinal- 
Legate,  impeded  by  his  blindness  yet  showing  commend- 
able pluck  and  coolness  in  a  situation  of  extreme  peril, 
remained  on  the  battlefield,  deeply  absorbed  in  performing 
the  last  sad  offices  for  the  dead  and  dying.  He  was 
engaged  in  this  truly  Christian  task,  when  he  was  per- 
ceived by  some  common  soldiers  of  the  victorious  army, 
who,  recking  nothing  of  the  sanctity  of  a  cardinal's  robe 
and  person,  hastened  to  lay  violent  hands  upon  so 
glorious  a  prize  as  the  papal  legate.  The  would-be 
assailants  of  the  Medici,  however,  were  opportunely  struck 
down  by  a  gentleman  of  Bologna,  named  Piatese,  who 
for  his  better  protection  handed  the  Legate  over  to 
Federigo  Gonzaga,  of  the  noble  House  of  Mantua. 
Gonzaga  immediately  led  the  captive  Cardinal  into  the 
presence  of  Sanseverino,  by  whom  his  Florentine  col- 


RISE  TO  POWER  UNDER  JULIUS  II  71 

league  was  received  with  every  mark  of  respect.  On 
the  strength  of  his  old  friend's  kindness,  the  cunning 
Medici  now  ventured  to  ask  as  a  special  favour  that  his 
cousin  Giulio  might  be  allowed  to  proceed  under  a  safe- 
conduct  to  the  French  camp.  To  this  seemingly  in- 
nocent request  Sanseverino,  too  much  engrossed  in 
quarrelling  with  the  new  French  commander,  La  Pallice, 
to  reflect  upon  any  possible  ill  consequences  of  his 
complaisance,  at  once  consented,  so  that  Giulio  was  able 
to  reach  Ravenna  before  many  hours  were  past.  By 
means  of  his  cousin  the  shrewd  Cardinal-  Legate  obtained 
the  desired  opportunity  of  sending  to  Rome  an  authentic 
report  of  the  late  battle,  and  also  an  exact  appreciation 
of  the  present  strength  of  the  French  army.  For  the 
Cardinal  had  already  perceived  clearly  that,  although  the 
forces  of  King  Louis  had  indeed  gained  a  stupendous 
victory,  yet  the  consequences  of  such  a  success  had  been 
greatly  impaired,  if  not  altogether  destroyed  by  the  loss 
of  Gaston  de  Foix,  on  whose  able  strategy  and  far- 
reaching  aims  all  future  policy  depended.  Hurrying 
from  Ravenna  with  the  Legate's  minute  instructions, 
Giulio  arrived  in  Rome  at  a  most  critical  juncture. 
Already  stragglers  from  the  defeated  army  had  reached 
the  Eternal  City,  where  by  the  exaggerated  language 
which  all  bearers  of  evil  tidings  are  so  prone  to  employ, 
they  had  spread  consternation  amongst  Julius  and  his 
cardinals  attendant,  whilst  Pompeo  Colonna  and  the 
Roman  barons  were  already  preparing  to  rouse  the 
populace  in  favour  of  an  expected  French  army.  The 
fortunes  of  Julius  had  now  sunk  to  their  lowest  ebb,  and 
so  intense  was  his  alarm  that  an  escape  by  sea  from 
Ostia  had  even  been  seriously  suggested.  To  the  scared 
Pontiff  and  his  court  Giulio  truly  brought  most  welcome 
relief,  for  he  was  able  to  explain  by  means  of  his  cousin's 


72  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

careful  instructions  that  the  dreaded  Gaston  was  no 
more ;  that  the  Duke  of  Ferrara  had  returned  to  his 
capital ;  that  La  Pallice  and  Sanseverino  were  on  terms 
of  open  rivalry  ;  and  that,  in  short,  there  was  little  fear  of 
the  conquerors  now  descending  upon  Rome.  Time  was 
all  that  was  needed  for  repairing  the  shattered  fortunes 
of  the  League,  since  the  delays  and  quarrels  of  the  new 
French  leaders  were  likely  to  continue  indefinitely,  so 
that  in  contriving  to  despatch  so  able  a  messenger  to 
Rome  with  such  speed,  the  captive  Cardinal- Legate  had 
indeed  performed  a  signal  service  to  the  Pope  and  the 
Holy  See.  Thus  reassured,  Julius  recovered  his  wonted 
presence  of  mind  and  again  began  to  treat  with  the 
French  King.  A  master-stroke,  also  suited  to  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  moment,  was  the  Pope's  decision  to 
summon  a  general  Council  to  meet  with  all  convenient 
despatch  at  the  Lateran,  an  action  almost  certain  to 
counteract  the  dreaded  influence  of  the  schismatic 
Council,  or  conciliabulo,  which  had  recently  transferred 
its  sittings  from  Pisa  to  Milan.  Possibly  this  ingenious 
idea  of  calling  a  Council  in  Rome  itself  as  an  antidote 
may  have  originated  with  the  Cardinal- Legate,  for  the 
very  notion  of  holding  such  an  assembly  had  always 
been  highly  repugnant  to  the  arrogant  Julius ;  at  any 
rate,  it  is  remarkable  that  this  announcement  followed 
close  upon  Medici's  lucid  explanation  of  the  general 
situation  in  Italy  after  the  battle  of  Ravenna. 

In  the  meantime  the  Legate  had  been  escorted  in 
honourable  durance  to  Bologna,  where  the  unfeeling  citi- 
zens came  in  crowds  to  gibe  at  the  captive  prince  of  the 
Church  and  at  his  fellow-prisoner,  Pedro  Navarro.  The 
Bentivogli,  however,  treated  Giovanni  with  consideration, 
as  did  likewise  Bianca  Rangone  at  Modena,  whither  he 
was  next  transferred.  This  lady,  a  daughter  of  the 


RISE  TO  POWER  UNDER  JULIUS  II  73 

House  of  Bentivoglio,  actually  stripped  herself  of  all  her 
jewels  in  order  to  provide  properly  for  the  Cardinal's 
immediate  necessities,  and  it  is  pleasant  to  be  able  to  re- 
cord that  this  act  of  kindness  shown  him  in  an  hour  of 
distress  was  not  allowed  to  pass  unnoticed  in  the  days  of 
prosperity  and  power  that  were  now  so  close  at  hand,  for 
Leo  X.  granted  many  favours  to  the  fortunate  children 
of  the  Lady  Bianca.  From  Modena  the  Cardinal  was 
taken  to  Milan,  where  he  was  honourably  lodged  in  the 
house  of  Sanseverino,  whilst  many  of  the  leading  Milan- 
ese citizens  came  to  pay  him  court  in  spite  of  his  being 
a  French  prisoner  of  war.  In  fact,  the  situation  in  Milan 
was  most  extraordinary,  seeing  that  here  was  the  schismatic 
Council  under  the  presidency  of  Carvajal  and  Sanseverino 
holding  its  sittings  and  anathematising  the  Roman  Pontiff, 
whose  captive  legate  meanwhile  was  being  treated  with 
marked  deference  by  the  Milanese  themselves,  who 
scarcely  tried  to  hide  their  contempt  for  the  Council  in 
their  midst ;  indeed,  the  ambitious  Carvajal  was  con- 
tinually assailed  in  the  streets  and  mocked  by  the  children 
as  "Pope  Carvajal".  Hither  a  little  later  arrived  the 
indefatigable  Giulio,  armed  with  letters  from  the  Pope, 
granting  to  his  legate  plenary  powers  to  give  absolution 
to  all  and  sundry  at  his  discretion  ;  whereupon  so  many 
applications  were  made  to  the  orthodox  legate  that  the 
Medici's  secretaries  were  kept  busily  employed  day  and 
night  in  preparing  the  necessary  forms.  Numbers  of  the 
French  officers  even  openly  asked  for  letters  of  absolu- 
tion for  their  late  crime  in  opposing  the  arms  of  His 
Holiness  at  Ravenna  and  Bologna;  nor  was  any  atten- 
tion paid  by  the  governor  of  Milan  to  the  indignant  pro- 
tests of  Carvajal  and  his  colleagues,  who  complained 
bitterly  of  Medici's  honourable  treatment  and  his  manifest 
influence.  The  final  withdrawal  of  the  French  troops 


74  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

from  Milan  before  the  advancing  Swiss  at  the  close  of 
May,  1512,  at  last  compelled  the  Council,  now  utterly  dis- 
credited in  the  eyes  of  all  men,  to  retire  with  the  French 
forces,  intending,  so  it  was  declared,  to  select  some  safe 
spot  in  France  for  its  further  proceedings.  As  a  hostage 
the  Cardinal- Legate  of  Bologna  undoubtedly  possessed 
no  small  value  in  the  estimation  of  King  Louis,  and  ac- 
cordingly Medici  was  constrained  to  follow  in  the  retreat- 
ing army  under  a  strong  escort.  Ideas  of  escape  had 
already  suggested  themselves  to  the  Cardinal,  who  was 
firmly  resolved  not  to  be  carried  a  prisoner  beyond  the 
Alps  without  making  a  desperate  effort  to  regain  his 
liberty.  The  attempt,  carefully  matured  beforehand, 
was  arranged  to  take  place  at  the  village  of  Cairo  on 
the  banks  of  the  Po,  at  which  spot  the  French  army  had 
decided  to  cross  the  river.  Closely  guarded  and  watched, 
the  Cardinal  by  feigning  illness  was  yet  allowed  to  spend 
the  night  at  the  humble  house  of  the  parish-priest  of 
Cairo,  whilst  the  French  ecclesiastics  of  the  Council  were 
embarking  in  the  barges  that  were  ready  to  bear  them- 
selves and  their  attendants  to  Bassignano  across  the 
stream.  That  night  a  certain  priest  named  Bengallo, 
who  was  in  Medici's  train  and  was  the  guiding  spirit  of 
the  whole  plan,  went  secretly  to  implore  a  country 
gentleman  of  the  neighbourhood,  one  Rinaldo  Zazzi,  to 
act  as  his  assistant  in  the  matter  of  the  Cardinal's  escape. 
Zazzi  was  at  first  unwilling  to  join  in  so  hazardous  a 
scheme,  even  though  the  good  priest  begged  him  with 
tears  in  his  eyes  to  rescue  the  Pope's  legate  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  discomfited  barbarians,  yet  a  last  appeal  to 
the  ever-potent  memory  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent  was 
successful  in  inducing  the  hesitating  Piedmontese  squire 
to  give  a  reluctant  promise  of  aid,  but  only  on  the  con- 
dition that  a  local  nobleman,  by  name  Ottaviano  Isim- 


RISE  TO  POWER  UNDER  JULIUS  II  75 

bardi,  should  likewise  be  admitted  into  their  confidence. 
The  disappointed  priest  had  perforce  to  agree,  whereupon 
Isimbardi  was  sought  and  after  additional  promises  and 
pleadings  was  gained  over  to  the  cause.  Zazzi  and 
Isimbardi  now  arranged  to  collect  a  number  of  peasants 
from  off  their  estates  to  compass  the  rescue  of  the  Cardinal, 
whose  person  was  to  be  seized  on  the  following  morning 
at  the  river's  bank,  at  the  precise  moment  when  he  was 
preparing  to  step  into  the  barge.  The  whole  scheme, 
concocted  with  such  care  and  at  such  risk  by  Bengallo 
and  his  new  accomplices,  was  however  nearly  frustrated 
by  an  error  of  Zazzi's  messenger,  who  addressed  himself 
to  the  French  priest  in  charge  of  Medici  by  mistake  for 
Bengallo  ;  and  although  the  servant  had  the  wit  to  invent 
a  reasonable  explanation  of  his  strange  blunder,  the 
Frenchman's  suspicions  were  aroused,  so  that  he  gave 
the  order  of  embarkation  sooner  than  was  anticipated. 
By  a  series  of  pretended  delays,  however,  some  little  time 
was  gained,  with  the  result  that  as  the  Cardinal,  who 
managed  to  be  almost  the  last  person  left  on  the  river- 
bank,  was  about  to  step  into  the  boat  prepared  for  him, 
Zazzi  and  Isimbardi  suddenly  appeared  on  the  scene  with 
a  band  of  armed  men,  who  quickly  drove  back  the 
startled  Frenchmen  and  conveyed  Medici  to  a  temporary 
hiding-place.  But  the  Legate's  troubles  were  as  yet  by 
no  means  finished,  in  spite  of  this  successful  beginning, 
for  the  French,  furious  at  losing  a  valuable  hostage  by 
so  simple  a  device,  set  to  work  to  scour  the  surrounding 
country,  though  happily  not  before  the  Cardinal  had  been 
able  to  don  military  attire — a  most  unsuitable  disguise, 
it  would  seem,  for  one  of  his  bulky  figure  and  elegant 
manners — and  to  flee  in  an  opposite  direction.  Under 
the  circumstances  Isimbardi,  who  accompanied  the  il- 
lustrious fugitive,  thought  it  best  to  seek  the  protection 


76  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

of  a  relative,  one  Bernardo  Malespina,  although  he  was 
known  to  sympathise  with  the  French  faction.  To  the 
dismay  of  the  poor  Cardinal  and  to  the  genuine  surprise 
of  Isimbardi,  Malespina  however  not  only  declined  to 
assist  the  refugee's  flight,  but  insisted  on  keeping  Medici 
a  close  prisoner,  until  he  had  communicated  with  the 
French  general,  the  celebrated  Gian-Giorgio  Trivulzi. 
Shut  up  under  lock  and  key  in  a  dark  and  dirty  pigeon- 
house,  the  Legate  had  ample  time  to  bewail  his  evil  fate, 
for  there  was  every  reason  to  suppose  that  Trivulzi, 
though  an  Italian  by  birth,  would  insist  on  his  being 
handed  over  to  the  French.  But  to  the  unbounded  joy 
and  relief  both  of  the  Cardinal  and  of  Isimbardi,  the 
general's  reply  was  all  in  favour  of  the  fugitive ;  for 
Trivulzi  informed  Malespina  that  he  might  liberate  the 
Cardinal,  if  he  were  so  minded,  seeing  that  fortune  had 
so  far  helped  him  to  elude  his  late  captors.  Malespina 
had  sworn  to  his  kinsman  to  abide  by  Trivulzi's  decision, 
and  although  refusing  actively  to  help  in  the  matter 
of  escape,  he  had  no  objection  to  leaving  ajar  the  door 
of  the  dove-cote,  as  though  by  accident.  Issuing  thus 
from  his  undignified  place  of  restraint  in  Malespina's 
castle,  the  Cardinal  hastened  in  disguise  to  Voghiera 
and  thence  to  Mantua,  where  he  was  hospitably  enter- 
tained by  the  Marquis  and  his  consort,  the  famous 
Isabella  d'  Este  of  Ferrara.  Such  are  the  bare  outlines 
of  the  story  of  Leo's  escape,  and  for  its  sequel  we  must 
add  that  according  to  his  usual,  if  not  invariable  custom, 
on  succeeding  to  the  Papacy  he  did  not  fail  to  remember 
and  reward  all  those  devoted  friends  who  had  assisted 
in  his  rescue.  The  brave  and  resourceful  Bengallo  was 
nominated  bishop  of  Nepi ;  titles  and  estates  were  be- 
stowed on  Zazzi  and  Isimbardi ;  whilst  the  over-cautious 
Malespina  must  have  lived  to  regret  bitterly  his  harsh 


RISE  TO  POWER  UNDER  JULIUS  II  77 

treatment  of  the  poor  wanderer  imprisoned  in  his  fowl- 
house.  As  a  memorial  of  this  interesting  and  by  no 
means  unimportant  episode  in  the  career  of  the  first 
Medicean  Pope,  the  Marchese  Isimbardi  caused  the  walls 
of  the  chief  saloon  of  his  villa  at  Cairo  to  be  adorned 
with  a  series  of  frescoes  illustrating  the  story  of  the  Pon- 
tiffs flight,  beneath  which  he  added  a  personal  inscription, 
containing  the  words  :  "O  Ottaviano  Isimbardi!  to  thy 
efforts  of  a  truth  doth  Florence  owe  a  Medicean  Prince, 
Italy  a  Hero,  and  the  world  a  Leo  the  Tenth!" 
Modesty  was  not  a  common  attribute  of  the  noblemen 
of  the  Italian  Renaissance,  nor  self-glorification  a  rare 
one. 

The  real  political  importance  of  the  Medici's  escape 
from  the  French  army  at  this  exact  moment  must  not 
be  overlooked.  Had  he  not  attempted,  and  with  success, 
to  break  away  from  his  captors,  he  would  undoubtedly 
have  been  borne  away  to  France  and  been  kept  there  as 
a  hostage,  at  least  until  the  death  of  Julius  II.  In  that 
case  the  restoration  of  the  Medici  in  Florence — an  event 
of  which  we  intend  to  speak  presently — would  certainly 
never  have  occurred,  whilst  without  this  increased  in- 
fluence in  Italian  politics,  which  the  recovery  of  Florence 
gave  to  him,  would  he  ever  have  been  elected  Pope, 
particularly  if  he  were  remaining  a  prisoner — honourably 
treated,  no  doubt,  but  a  prisoner  none  the  less- — on  alien 
soil.  Nor,  seeing  how  this  extraordinary  piece  of  good 
fortune  befel  the  Cardinal  within  a  few  weeks  of  his 
triumphal  entry  into  Florence  and  within  a  few  months 
of  his  ascending  the  pontifical  throne,  can  we  wonder 
that  both  Jovius  and  Egidius  of  Viterbo  should  allude 
to  this  event  as  miraculous  in  an  age  which  attributed 
all  good  or  evil  to  the  direct  intervention  of  a  watch- 
ful Providence.  "It  was  the  act  of  God,"  says  the 


78  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

latter    chronicler,    "and    before   all    other   things    that 

have   been  done  in  past  ages,  is  it  marvellous  in  our 

i » i 
eyes  ! 

1Cavaliere  Rosmini,  Istoria  del  Magno  Trivulzio  ;  Jovius,  lib.  ii. ; 
Roscoe,  vol.  i.,  pp.  322-324,  and  p.  324,  note  10. 


CHAPTER   IV 
RETURN  OF  THE  MEDICI  TO  FLORENCE 

Let  no  man  scheme  to  make  himself  supreme  in  Florence  who  is 
not  of  the  line  of  the  Medici,  and  backed  besides  by  the  power  of  the 
Church.  None  else,  be  he  who  he  may,  has  such  influence  or  follow- 
ing that  he  can  hope  to  reach  this  height,  unless  indeed  he  be  carried 
to  it  by  the  free  voice  of  the  people  in  search  of  a  constitutional  chief, 
as  happened  to  Piero  Soderini.  If  any  therefore  aspire  to  such 
honours,  not  being  of  the  House  of  Medici,  let  him  affect  the  popular 
cause  (F.  Guicciardini,  Counsels  and  Reflections), 

THE  discomfiture  of  the  French  had  been  so 
complete,  that  soon  after  the  evacuation  of 
Milan  there  were  remaining  to  them  scarcely 
half  a  dozen  fortresses  of  all  their  late  conquests  in 
Lombardy.  Once  more  the  expelled  Sforza  were  in- 
stalled in  Milan ;  Bologna  was  again  in  the  hands  of 
Julius  II.,  whose  fury  against  the  unfortunate  Bentivogli 
burned  so  fierce  that  he  threatened  to  raze  the  whole 
city  and  transplant  its  fickle  inhabitants  to  the  town  of 
Cento ;  Parma  and  Piacenza  were  likewise  seized  by 
the  ambitious  but  not  self-seeking  Pontiff,  who  claimed 
these  important  towns  for  the  Church  as  forming  outlying 
portions  of  the  ancient  exarchate  of  Ravenna ;  Venice, 
now  supported  by  her  new  friend  and  former  foe,  the 
Pope,  was  preparing  to  annex  Brescia  and  Cremona, 
which  were  still  held  by  French  garrisons ;  whilst  the 
vacillating  Emperor  and  the  shrewd  Ferdinand  of  Spain 
were  silently  working  to  obtain  some  substantial  advant- 
age out  of  the  recent  failure  of  the  French  arms.  To 

79 


8o  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

settle  the  affairs  of  Italy  and  to  apportion  the  spoils 
amongst  the  component  members  of  the  League,  a  con- 
ference had  been  called  at  Mantua  in  the  summer  of 
1512.  But  a  more  important  matter  than  the  pacifica- 
tion of  Northern  Italy  to  be  discussed  at  this  meeting 
was  the  question  of  dealing  with  the  only  independent 
state  of  consequence  which  had  been  openly  hostile  to 
the  victorious  League,  for  throughout  the  late  campaign 
Florence  had  remained  an  acknowledged,  if  not  a  very 
active  ally  of  the  French  King.  The  collapse  of  the  late 
invasion  had  indeed  imperilled  the  actual  existence  of  the 
Florentine  Republic,  now  guided  by  Piero  Soderini, 
who  in  1 503  had  been  duly  elected  Gonfalionere  for  life 
and  endowed  with  powers  somewhat  akin  to  those  en- 
joyed by  a  Venetian  doge.  Soderini,  who  was  an 
eminently  honest  but  not  very  able  public  magistrate, 
had  for  some  time  past  regarded  this  French  alliance 
with  serious  misgiving,  but  partly  from  a  natural  in- 
decision of  character  and  partly  from  a  high-minded 
sense  of  loyalty  to  the  pact  made  with  King  Louis,  he 
had  taken  no  definite  step  to  dissociate  the  Republic 
from  an  union  which  was  singularly  distasteful  to  the 
Pope,  whose  hatred  of  the  French  amounted  to  a  verit- 
able passion.  To  pursue  a  middle  course  under  these 
circumstances  proved  a  fatal  mistake,  and  Soderini's 
recent  conduct  in  affording  shelter  to  the  refugees  of 
both  armies  after  the  battle  of  Ravenna  had  only  ex- 
asperated the  French  without  winning  the  gratitude  of 
the  League.  Now,  with  the  invaders  practically  swept 
out  of  the  country,  Soderini  found  himself  and  the 
Florentine  Republic  completely  isolated,  so  that  it  is  not 
difficult  to  understand  the  feelings  of  grave  alarm  where- 
with the  Gonfalionere  and  his  adherents  were  regarding 
this  coming  conference  at  Mantua.  In  order  to  propitiate 


RETURN  OF  THE  MEDICI  TO  FLORENCE    81 

the  heads  of  the  League,  therefore,  the  perplexed  ruler  of 
Florence  despatched  to  Mantua  his  brother,  Gian- 
Vittorio  Soderini,  a  person  "more  learned  in  the  laws 
than  in  the  higher  arts  of  diplomacy,"  to  treat  on  behalf 
of  the  recalcitrant  Republic. 

Conspicuous  amongst  the  representatives  of  the 
various  powers  convened  at  Mantua  was  the  Emperor's 
plenipotentiary,  the  haughty  Matthew  Lang,  bishop  of 
Gurck,  who  was  ready  to  offer  his  master's  good-will  to 
the  highest  bidder.  The  Medicean  interests  were  in  the 
hands  of  Giuliano  de'  Medici  in  the  absence  of  the 
Cardinal,  who  was  engaged  in  restoring  order  in  Bologna. 
Giuliano,  acting  under  the  advice  of  his  elder  brother, 
was  naturally  lavish  of  his  promises  both  to  Lang  and  to 
Cardona,  the  leader  of  Ferdinand's  army  ;  but  all  such 
promises,  however  tempting  they  might  seem,  were 
necessarily  contingent  on  the  restoration  of  the  Medici, 
who  were  still  exiles.  Had  Piero  Soderini  invested  his 
brother  with  fuller  powers  to  pledge  the  credit  of  the 
Florentine  state  to  an  unlimited  extent,  he  might  possibly 
have  succeeded  in  buying  off  the  representatives  of  both 
King  and  Emperor,  for  without  the  Spanish  army  of 
Cardona,  Julius  would  in  all  probability  have  been  unable 
to  carry  out  his  open  project  to  overthrow  the  existing 
government  of  Soderini  and  to  replace  it  by  the  rule  of 
the  Medici.  For,  thanks  to  the  years  of  loyal  service 
and  his  recent  misfortunes  in  his  master's  cause,  the 
Cardinal  had  completely  succeeded  in  winning  the  papal 
confidence  and  favour,  and  had  been  actually  marked 
out  by  Julius  as  a  proper  instrument  for  the  chastisement 
of  obstinate  Florence,  which  had  not  only  made  an  un- 
holy alliance  with  the  detested  French,  but  had  also 
granted  hospitality  to  the  late  schismatical  Council  at  Pisa. 
But  although  the  anxious  Soderini  must  have  been  fully 

6 


82  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

aware  that,  in  order  to  avert  the  papal  vengeance  and  to 
placate  the  enmity  of  the  League,  there  was  absolute 
necessity  for  other  and  more  subtle  methods  than  mere 
appeals  to  fair-play  and  common-sense,  he  shrank  from 
bribery  on  the  required  scale,  allowing  the  promises  of 
Giuliano  de'  Medici  to  transcend  in  value  his  own  more 
frugal  offers. 

Meanwhile,  the  Cardinal,  his  brother  Giuliano,  their 
cousin  Giulio  and  Bernardo  Dovizi  da  Bibbiena,  with  all 
their  friends,  were  busily  employed  in  furthering  the 
restoration  of  the  Medicean  family  in  Florence,  whether 
as  acknowledged  rulers  or  as  private  citizens  ;  the  actual 
form  of  their  re-entry  seemed  of  little  consequence  at  the 
moment.  Julius  now  willingly  invested  the  Cardinal 
with  legatine  authority  in  Tuscany,  whilst  there  was 
placed  at  his  disposal  the  Spanish  army  under  Cardona, 
which  was  encamped  near  Bologna.  Yet  Giovanni,  who 
fully  realised  that  the  precise  moment  for  a  vigorous 
effort  to  regain  Florence  had  in  very  truth  arrived,  still 
met  with  many  difficulties  in  his  path,  in  spite  too  of  the 
warm  support  of  the  Pope  and  the  League.  Cardona 
himself  regarded  with  indifference,  if  not  with  dislike, 
this  proposed  descent  upon  Tuscany,  and  the  Spanish 
general's  aversion  had  to  be  overcome  by  such  sums  of 
money  as  the  impoverished  Cardinal  could  scrape  to- 
gether. Even  more  serious  and  exasperating  than 
Cardona's  reluctance  was  the  strong  opposition  of  the 
papal  nephew,  Francesco  Delia  Rovere,  Duke  of  Urbino, 
who  stoutly  refused  to  second  his  uncle's  scheme  against 
Florence  in  this  emergency  ;  denied  artillery  to  the 
Spanish  army  ;  and  even  forbade  the  Vitelli  and  Orsini, 
cousins  of  the  Medici  and  eager  upholders  of  their  cause, 
to  quit  the  force,  which  as  Captain-General  of  the  Church 
he  himself  was  then  commanding.  Whether  the  duke 


RETURN  OF  THE  MEDICI  TO  FLORENCE          83 

had  been  secretly  bribed,  or  was  acting  thus  out  of  a 
personal  dislike  of  the  Cardinal,  who  had  sat  as  one  of  his 
judges  in  the  late  enquiry  concerning  Alidosi's  murder, 
it  is  impossible  to  say ;  but  certain  it  is  that  his  unseason- 
able attitude  of  sharp  hostility  to  the  Medici  was  one 
which  he  had  every  reason  ere  long  to  deplore  under  the 
Medicean  pontificate,  which  he  little  dreamed  was  so 
near  at  hand.  But  the  energy  and  tact  of  the  Cardinal 
were  sufficient  to  surmount  all  initial  difficulties.  It  was 
he  who  contrived  to  purchase  two  pieces  of  the  much- 
needed  artillery,  and  during  the  passage  of  the  Apennines 
it  was  his  personal  influence  with  the  mountaineers  that 
secured  pack-horses  and  food  for  the  ill-equipped  army. 
At  the  village  of  Barberino,  on  the  confines  of  the  Re- 
public's territory,  arrived  an  embassy  from  the  city  of 
Florence,  offering  terms  to  which  Cardona  might  have 
been  tempted  to  accede,  had  it  not  been  for  the  presence 
of  the  Cardinal,  who  insisted  before  all  things  upon  the 
acceptance  of  the  League's  late  resolution — a  resolution 
naturally  of  the  first  importance  to  the  struggling  Medici 
—that  the  exiled  members  of  the  family  should  be  per- 
mitted to  return  to  Florence  as  private  citizens.  Upon 
this  vital  question  the  negotiating  parties  were  quite 
unable  to  agree,  the  Gonfalionere  boldly  stating  his 
preference  for  an  appeal  to  arms  rather  than  for  any 
arrangement  which  might  include  a  restoration  of  the 
Medici ;  and  to  this  grave  determination  Soderini  had 
been  urged  not  a  little  by  the  arguments  of  Niccolo 
Machiavelli,  his  secretary-of-state,  who  had  now  served 
the  Florentine  Republic  with  devoted  skill  for  the  past 
fourteen  years.  Acting  under  Machiavelli's  advice, 
Soderini  now  permitted  the  enrolment  of  a  force  of  local 
militia,  and  also  gave  orders  for  the  strengthening  of  all 
fortresses,  whilst  he  boldly  thrust  into  prison  some  twenty- 


84  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

five  prominent  supporters  of  the  Medicean  faction,  who 
were  already  agitating  noisily  for  the  return  of  their 
patrons.  Having  taken  measures  so  decided  and  alert, 
the  Gonfalionere,  convoking  the  Grand  Council  of  the 
city,  amidst  breathless  silence  addressed  his  fellow-citizens 
in  a  speech,  which  for  pure  patriotism,  sound  reasoning 
and  personal  unselfishness  must  ever  confer  honour  upon 
the  speaker,  and  to  some  extent  redeem  his  fixed  reputa- 
tion for  incompetence  and  sloth.  After  expressing  his 
readiness  to  resign  the  office  of  Gonfalionere,  Soderini 
warned  all  loyal  upholders  of  the  Republic  against  re- 
admitting the  Medici  within  their  walls,  even  in  the  guise 
of  private  citizens.  For  true  citizens  they  could  no 
longer  be,  he  clearly  explained,  since  after  so  many 
years  of  absence  from  civic  life  and  of  residence  in  foreign 
courts,  they  had  been  transformed  into  princes,  even 
assuming  they  had  been  private  persons  at  the  time  of 
their  expulsion  nearly  twenty  years  before.  And  this 
remark  would  apply  with  special  force  to  the  young- 
Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  the  heir  of  the  family,  who,  having 
been  an  infant  at  that  date,  could  not  therefore  possibly 
remember  any  of  the  traditions  of  his  House,  but  would 
of  necessity  behave  like  a  tyrant  of  the  type  of  a  Benti- 
voglio  or  a  Gonzaga,  relying  not  upon  the  public  love 
and  acquiescence  in  his  rule,  but  upon  force  of  arms  and 
the  support  of  the  Papacy,  which  his  uncle  the  Cardinal 
coulcl  be  trusted  to  obtain.  The  Gonfalionere  ended  his 
oration  by  solemnly  warning  his  hearers  that  the  times 
and  government  of  Lorenzo  il  Magnifico,  "  who  was  ever 
anxious  to  cover  his  real  prerogative  with  a  mantle  of 
private  equality  rather  than  to  make  an  ostentatious 
display  of  his  power,"  would  be  reckoned  as  a  golden 
age  compared  with  the  open  tyranny  which  his  sons  and 
grandsons  would  inaugurate,  were  they  admitted  into  the 


city.  "It  therefore  becomes  your  duty,"  were  his  last 
words,  "now  to  decide,  whether  I  am  to  resign  my  office 
(which  I  shall  cheerfully  do  at  your  bidding),  or  whether 
I  am  to  attend  vigorously  to  the  defence  of  our  fatherland, 
if  you  desire  me  to  remain."1 

The  patriotic  and  sensible  arguments  used  by  Soderini 
were  received  with  enthusiasm  by  his  audience,  and  even 
by  the  mass  of  the  citizens,  who  were  distinctly  averse 
to  a  Medicean  restoration.  For  a  time  the  united 
determination  of  the  Florentines  to  resist  any  attempt 
at  invasion  was  manifest  and  genuine,  whilst  the  work 
of  defence,  already  begun  in  the  early  summer,  was 
being  pushed  forward  with  feverish  alacrity,  chiefly  under 
the  supervision  of  Machiavelli.  But  although  Machiavelli 
was  perhaps  the  greatest  genius  of  his  age  and  whole- 
hearted in  his  endeavours  to  defend  his  fatherland,  yet 
his  talents  shone  rather  in  the  theoretical  than  in  the 
practical  art  of  warfare.  He  could  give  excellent  advice 
on  paper  as  to  strategy  and  training,  but  as  a  civilian 
pure  and  simple  he  was  scarcely  competent  to  undertake 
those  more  laborious  tasks,  which  necessarily  belong  to 
the  peculiar  province  of  skilled  generals  and  engineers. 
Unlike  his  great  fellow-citizen  Michelangelo,  who  was 
destined  seventeen  years  later  to  erect  the  fortifications 
of  San  Miniato  during  the  siege  of  Florence,  Machiavelli 
was  neither  architect  nor  mechanician  ;  yet  it  is  of 
interest  to  recall  the  plain  circumstance  that  on  two 
momentous  occasions  Florence  was  prepared  for  defence 
by  the  devoted  efforts  of  this  pair  of  her  most  illustrious 
sons. 

The  town  of  Prato  with  its  crumbling  brown  walls 
1  Guicciardini,  Storia  d*  Italia,  lib.  xi. 


86  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

and  its  black  and  white  striped  cathedral-tower,  which 
rises  so  prominent  a  feature  of  the  fertile  and  populous 
Val  d'  Arno,  stands  on  the  right  bank  of  the  rushing 
Bisenzio,  and  at  no  great  distance  from  the  western 
slopes  of  Monte  Morello.  Even  to-day  Prato  retains 
much  of  its  mediaeval  appearance,  whilst  its  works  of  art 
by  Donatello  and  the  Robbias,  and  also  Lippo  Lippi's 
glorious  frescoes  in  the  cathedral-choir,  attract  yearly 
many  visitors  to  the  prosperous  little  city  that  stands 
in  the  midst  of  a  fruitful  Tuscan  landscape.  Situated 
within  eight  miles  of  Florence,  this  place  had  long  shared 
the  political  fortunes  of  its  more  important  neighbour, 
and  it  was  familiar  to  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  who  in  the 
past  had  been  itsproposto,  or  nominal  protector,  although 
his  first  visit  hither,  undertaken  nearly  twenty  years  ago, 
had  been  attended  by  a  melancholy  accident  of  a  type 
common  enough  in  those  days  of  elaborate  pageants. 
A  triumphal  arch,  placed  above  the  Florence  gate  of  the 
town  and  intended  to  represent  some  allegorical  scene, 
had  suddenly  collapsed  on  the  young  Cardinal's  approach, 
so  that  two  pretty  children,  dressed  as  welcoming  angels, 
fell  to  the  ground  and  perished  miserably  in  the  wreck- 
age :  an  unforeseen  catastrophe  which  quickly  changed 
the  festal  aspect  of  the  town  into  one  of  universal  mourn- 
ing.1 The  Pratesi  now,  on  hearing  of  the  advance  of 
Cardona's  army  bearing  in  its  ranks  their  late  protector, 
their  "  Dolce  Pastore,"  as  certain  poets  had  designated 
him,  recalled  to  mind  this  long-passed  event,  and  drew 
an  evil  augury  from  the  near  presence  of  the  Cardinal. 
Nor  were  the  good  people  deceived  in  their  dismal 
prognostications,  although  the  Florentine  Signory  had 
hastened  to  pour  thousands  of  troops  within  their  walls, 

1  Nardi,  Islorie  Florentine,  lib.  v. 


RETURN  OF  THE  MEDICI  TO  FLORENCE          87 

since  it  was  openly  known  that  Cardona,  deeming  his 
artillery  too  weak  and  his  men  too  exhausted  to  attack 
Florence  itself,  was  meditating  an  assault  upon  Prato, 
where  he  could  at  least  obtain  the  means  of  victualling 

o 

his  famished  troops.  The  first  effort  of  the  Spaniards 
resulted  in  complete  failure,  due  rather  to  a  lack  of 
cannon  than  to  any  skill  on  the  part  of  Luca  Savelli, 
the  Florentine  commander  ;  but  the  second  assault, 
made  from  the  direction  of  Campi  on  the  afternoon  of 
29th  August,  succeeded  with  an  ease  which  astonished  all 
who  witnessed  the  operations.  Battering  down  with 
the  Cardinal's  two  pieces  of  cannon  a  portion  of  the 
wall  near  the  Mercatale  gate,  the  Spaniards  rushed  into 
the  breach  almost  unopposed  ;  the  Tuscan  militia  bands,  a 
mere  rabble  of  armed  peasants  that  Machiavelli  had  levied 
for  the  defence,  flying  like  frightened  sheep  before  the 
onslaught  of  Cardona's  veterans.  Thereupon  followed 
an  indescribable  scene  of  confusion,  plunder  and  massacre, 
the  awful  effects  of  which  have  not  been  forgotten  to 
this  day  in  unhappy  Prato,  "where,  rightly  or  wrongly, 
the  name  and  memory  of  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  Pope 
Leo  X.  will  for  ever  be  associated  with  the  blood 
and  tears  of  its  citizens  "-1  For  nearly  two  days  the 
Sack  of  Prato  of  impious  recollection  raged  unchecked. 
Neither  age  nor  sex  was  spared  by  the  ferocious  soldiery, 
who  were  said,  though  probably  without  truth,  to  have 
included  a  large  number  of  Moslem  mercenaries.  No 
quarter  was  granted  either  to  peaceful  merchant  or  to 
fleeing  peasant ;  priests  were  struck  down  at  the  altar ; 
the  crucifix,  and  even  the  Host  were  insulted  ;  the 
churches  were  plundered  ;  and  the  famous  shrine  of 
the  Cintola,  the  Madonna's  girdle,  which  is  the  historic 

1  Baldanzi,  Storia  della  Chiesa  Cattedrale  di  Prato. 


88  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

relic  of  Prato,  is  said  to  have  escaped  depredation  only 
by  means  of  a  timely  miracle  that  terrified  its  would-be 
devastators.1  Monasteries  were  set  on  fire,  and  their 
inmates  stabbed  or  beaten  ;  the  very  convents  were 
invaded  by  the  licentious  soldiery.  "It  was  not  a 
struggle,  but  sheer  butchery,"  comments  the  historian 
Nardi  ;  "it  was  an  appalling  spectacle  of  horrors,"  de- 
clares the  unemotional  Machiavelli,  whose  hastily-levied 
militia  had  in  no  small  degree  contributed  by  cowardice 
and  inexperience  to  the  disaster  itself.  To  add  to  the 
terrors  of  the  scene,  a  fearful  thunderstorm  with  torrents 
of  rain  raged  all  night  over  the  town,  so  that  the 
fiendish  work  of  destruction  and  outrage  was  rendered 
yet  more  easy,  and  any  attempt  at  keeping  order  was 
thereby  rendered  impossible.  "  The  place  was  a  verit- 
able pool  of  blood,"  writes  a  contemporary  chronicler  ; 
and  indeed,  when  we  take  into  account  the  small  area 
of  the  town  and  the  mass  of  soldiery  suddenly  admitted 
within  the  narrow  compass  of  its  walls,  it  becomes  easy 
to  understand  so  terrible,  if  exaggerated  a  description, 
especially  on  hearing  that  the  number  of  those  who 
perished  in  the  sack  of  Prato  has  been  estimated  at  so 
high  a  figure  as  5000  persons. 

With  the  dawn  of  3<Dth  August,  the  work  of  massacre 
and  rapine  was  continued  with  renewed  force.  By  the 
clearer  light  of  day  persons  of  every  rank  in  life  and  of 
either  sex  were  dragged  from  sanctuary  or  hiding-place, 
and  after  the  application  of  rough  and  ready  forms  of 
torture  (said  to  be  a  characteristic  of  the  Spanish  troopers) 
to  enable  their  captors  to  discover  the  whereabouts  of 
their  supposed  hoards,  the  unhappy  victims  were  brutally 
slain  and  their  bodies  stripped  before  being  flung  into  the 

1  Archivio  Storico  Italiano,  vol.  i. :  "  II  Miserando  Sacco  di  Prato," 
di  Messer  Jacopo  Modesti. 


RETURN  OF  THE  MEDICI  TO  FLORENCE          89 

streets.  Every  well  in  the  town  was  choked  with  naked 
corpses,  and  the  walls  of  the  Cathedral  still  bear  to-day 
an  inscription  alluding  to  this  horrible  phase  of  the  sack 
of  Prato.  After  a  day  and  a  night  of  unsurpassed  carnage 
and  cruelty,  the  Viceroy  Cardona  made  his  state  entry 
into  the  town,  and  at  once  gave  the  order  for  the  booty 
to  be  sold  at  public  auction  ; — "  O  Dio  !  O  Dio  !  O  Dio  ! 
che  crudelta  !  "  is  the  dismal  comment  of  an  eye-witness, 
one  Pistofilo,  a  secretary  in  the  train  of  Ippolito  d'  Este.1 
The  part  played  by  the  Cardinal  and  his  brother  in 
the  events  leading  up  to  the  sack  of  Prato  has  been 
censured  in  the  severest  terms  by  a  modern  Italian 
historian.  "The  Medici,"  declares  with  indignation  the 
late  Cesare  Guasti,  "  descended  upon  the  confines  of  their 
own  fatherland  (shameful  to  relate!)  in  the  rear  of  a 
foreign  army ;  whilst  the  Cardinal,  making  use  of  his 
legatine  powers,  actually  obtained  at  Bologna  for  this 
force  the  very  cannon  which  were  to  open  the  fatal  breach 
in  the  walls  of  Prato.  As  Cardinal- Legate  he  tolerated 
all  the  horrors  committed  at  the  sack  of  the  town,  even 
the  very  outrages  upon  persons  and  places  devoted  to 
religion. ":  That  the  Medici  were  responsible  for  this 
invasion  of  Florentine  territory  by  a  foreign  force,  there 
can  be  no  question  of  doubt,  for,  as  we  have  already  shown, 
Cardona  was  loth  to  move  southward,  and  but  for  the 
Cardinal's  gold  and  arguments  would  never  have  done 
so  at  all.  To  this  extent,  it  may  be  at  once  frankly  ad- 
mitted, the  Medici  were  directly  answerable  for  the  ensu- 
ing capture  and  sack  of  Prato,  which  had  refused  to 
capitulate  at  the  joint  request  of  the  Cardinal- Legate  and 

1  //  Sacco  di  Prato  e  il  Ritorno  dei  Medici  in  Firenze  nel  MDXII. 
A  collection  of  documents  and  poems  edited  by  Cesare  Guasti 
(Bologna,  1880). 

td.,  Prefazione. 


9o  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

of  Cardona,  or  even  to  supply  the  invading  army  with 
the  provisions  which  were  so  badly  needed.  But  it  is 
unreasonable  to  accuse  the  Cardinal  of  directly  instigating 
or  approving  the  subsequent  sack  of  the  place  with  its 
attendant  brutalities.  As  a  Tuscan,  as  a  prince  of  the 
Church,  and  as  a  human  being  naturally  inclined  to 
methods  of  mercy,  it  seems  inconceivable  that  Giovanni 
de'  Medici  could  have  witnessed  otherwise  than  with 
feelings  of  shame  and  indignation  the  cruel  treatment  of 
the  little  city  which  was  itself  almost  a  suburb  of  his 
native  Florence.  His  real  responsibility  lay  in  his  hav- 
ing raised  a  tempest,  the  fury  of  which  he  himself  failed 
to  foresee,  and  the  progress  of  which  he  was  absolutely 
powerless  to  check  or  even  mitigate.  But  it  appears 
illogical  to  brand  as  a  crime  this  forcible  attempt  of  the 
exiled  Medici  to  return  to  their  native  land,  even  under 
cover  of  an  alien  army,  when  we  take  into  consideration 
the  previous  expulsion  of  the  Cardinal  and  his  brothers 
from  Florence,  their  outlawry,  the  seizure  of  their  private 
estates  and  the  blood-money  set  on  their  heads  by  a 
hostile  government. 

"  This  day  (29th  August),  at  sixteen  of  the  clock,  the 
town  was  sacked,  not  without  some  bloodshed,  such  as 
could  not  be  avoided.  .  .  .  The  capture  of  Prato,  so 
speedily  and  cruelly,  although  it  has  given  me  pain, 
will  at  least  have  the  good  effect  of  serving  as  an  example 
and  a  deterrent  to  the  others."1  Thus  writes  the 
Cardinal  to  the  Pope  on  the  very  day  that  saw  the  seizure 
of  the  town  and  certain  unpleasant  features  of  the  sack  ; 
but  it  is  evident  from  the  writer's  tone  that  the  worst  ex- 
cesses had  not  yet  been  committed,  when  Giovanni  de' 
Medici  was  inditing  his  despatch  to  Julius  II.  The  pro- 

1Villari,  vol.  ii.,  p.  13,  note  2. 


RETURN  OF  THE  MEDICI  TO  FLORENCE          9I 

bability  is  that  the  Cardinal  and  his  brother  Giuliano,  on 
hearing  of  the  continuance  of  the  sack  and  of  the  abomin- 
able acts  of  cruelty  and  sacrilege  in  the  captured  town, 
hastened  to  do  what  was  possible  to  save  the  women  and 
children  from  further  outrage  and  the  convents  from 
spoliation.  On  the  authority  of  Jovius,  the  Cardinal,  his 
brother  and  his  cousin  Giulio  did  their  utmost,  "with 
prayers  and  even  with  tears,"  to  compel  Cardona  and  his 
officers  to  safeguard  the  women  and  unarmed  citizens,  so 
that  it  was  due  to  their  frenzied  efforts  that  the  Cathedral, 
which  was  packed  with  terrified  refugees,  was  protected 
from  the  fury  of  the  lawless  soldiery.  In  the  various 
accounts  of  contemporary  writers,  all  of  them  with 
Medicean  sympathies,  the  part  played  by  the  Cardinal 
in  thus  endeavouring  to  save  the  honour  of  the  women 
and  the  lives  of  the  inoffensive  burghers,  is  constantly 
insisted  on,  and  although  the  phrases  used  are  often 
grossly  flattering  and  the  account  of  the  Cardinal's  tears 
sounds  somewhat  unctuous,  yet  it  appears  evident  that 
the  Medici  did  all  they  could  to  alleviate  the  evils  of  the 
town,  which  had  thus  been  made  the  scapegoat  of  the 
whole  Florentine  state  for  the  past  ill-treatment  of  the 
exiled  family  that  was  now  returning  to  power  and  pros- 
perity. 

Di  lagrime  si  bagnia  el  viso  e  '1  petto 

El  nostro  Monsignore,  anche  il  fratello. 

E  poi  diceva  ;  "  O  Cristo  benedetto, 

Di  rafrenar  ti  piaccia  tal  fragello ! 

O  Prato  mio,  da  me  tanto  diletto, 

Come  ti  veggo  far  tanto  macello !  " l 

And  another  poet  actually  goes  so  far  as  to  speak 
with  a  dismal  pun  of  the  presence  of  the  Medici  as  being 
medicina  to  the  ills  of  the  unhappy  Pratesi !  Certainly, 
after  his  election  to  the  papal  throne,  Leo  X.  received  in 

1  //  Saao  di  Prato,  p.  87. 


92  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Rome  a  deputation  from  Prato  with  encouraging  words 
of  sympathy  and  expressions  of  favour,  but  such  promises 
were  for  one  reason  or  another  never  carried  into  effect, 
so  that  we  can  scarcely  marvel  at  the  evil  reputation 
borne  by  Leo  X.  and  the  Medici  even  at  this  distance  of 
time  in  the  little  city  that  suffered  so  terribly  at  the  re- 
turn of  Lorenzo's  two  surviving  sons. 

The  heart-rending  reports  of  the  excesses  perpetrated 
by  the  Spanish  soldiers,  "  more  cruel  than  the  Devil  him- 
self," l  and  of  the  rank  cowardice  displayed  by  the  Tuscan 
regiments,  upon  which  Soderiniand  the  sanguine  Machia- 
velli  had  relied  to  preserve  the  city  from  invasion,  had 
the  immediate  effect  of  bringing  the  Florentines  to  a  full 
sense  of  their  imminent  peril.  A  sack  of  Prato  repeated 
on  a  gigantic  scale  in  Florence  itself  was  a  possible  catas- 
trophe to  be  averted  at  any  price,  no  matter  how  costly 
or  humiliating  to  the  Republic.  With  the  popular  con- 
sent, therefore,  the  faction  of  the  Palleschi,  led  by  the 
Albizzi,  the  Strozzi,  the  Salviati  and  other  families 
favourable  to  the  Medicean  cause,  was  requested  to 
arrange  for  an  armistice  with  the  Viceroy  Cardona,  whose 
bloodthirsty  troops  were  hourly  expected  to  appear  at  the 
city  gates.  The  terms  that  had  been  so  scornfully  re- 
jected at  Barberino  were  promptly  accepted,  the  Signory 
expressing  its  willingness  to  renounce  the  French  alliance  ; 
to  pay  a  large  indemnity  to  the  Viceroy  ;  to  dismiss 
Soderini  from  the  official  post  he  had  held  for  the  past 
nine  years  ;  and — most  important  concession  of  all — to 
re-admit  the  exiled  Medici  without  reserve.  Piero 
Soderini  himself,  on  being  approached  by  the  Medicean 
leaders,  at  once  stated  his  intention  of  retiring  ;  where- 
upon he  was  escorted  under  a  safe-conduct  to  Siena, 

1  Landucci,  p.  323. 


RETURN  OF  THE  MEDICI  TO  FLORENCE    93 

whence  a  little  later  he  wisely  fled  over-sea  to  Ragusa, 
in  order  to  avoid  the  clutches  of  the  revengeful  Julius. 
In  spite  of  his  nerveless  rule  and  mistaken  policy,  it  is 
impossible  not  to  admire  poor  Soderini's  candour  and  un- 
selfishness ;  yet  the  very  qualities  on  which  our  modern 
appreciation  is  based  are  those  which  aroused  the  fierce 
contempt  of  his  brilliant  lieutenant,  Machiavelli  : — a 
lasting  contempt  which  found  its  utterance  in  the  heart- 
less epigram  composed  in  after  years  at  the  death  of  his 
master,  the  deposed  Gonfalionere  of  Florence,  whose 
childlike  simplicity  seemed  only  in  Machiavelli's  eyes  to 
render  his  departed  soul  worthy  to  abide  in  Limbo,  the 
bourne  of  unbaptised  infants : — 

La  notte  che  mori  Pier  Soderini, 

L'  alma  n'  ando  nell'  Inferno  alia  bocca. 

E  Pluto  le  grido  :  "  Anima  sciocca, 

Che  Inferno?     Va  nel  Limbo  dei  bambini !  "  l 

It  is  pathetic  to  reflect  that  this  cruel  verse  is  far  better 
known  than  the  stately  epitaph  upon  Soderini's  beautiful 
tomb  by  the  Tuscan  sculptor  Benedetto  da  Rovezzano,  in 
the  choir  of  the  Carmelite  church  in  his  own  Florence, 
which  stands  but  a  few  yards  distant  from  the  little 
chapel  that  the  frescoes  of  Masaccio  have  rendered 
famous  for  all  time. 

With  the  hurried  departure  of  Soderini  and  the 
signing  of  the  treaty  with  Cardona,  the  city  was  once 
more  thrown  open  to  the  triumphant  Medici  after  an  en- 
forced absence  of  nearly  eighteen  years.  Nor  were 
portents  lacking  in  that  superstitious  age  to  give  timely 
warning  of  the  return  of  the  Magnificent  Lorenzo's  sons 
and  grandson.  Men  noted  that  the  French  King's  shield 
with  the  golden  lilies — the  lilies  of  France  that  Savonarola 

1  (Died  Soderini,  and  that  very  night 
Down  to  Hell's  portals  flew  his  simple  soul ; 
Where  Pluto  cried  :  "  Not  here,  O  foolish  sprite, 
Canst  thou  remain.     Of  babes  we  take  no  toll !  "  ) 


94  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

always  wished  to  unite  with  the  crimson gigli  of  Florence * 
—had  mysteriously  fallen  to  ground  during  the  night- 
time, and  that  a  thunderbolt  had  struck  the  crest  of  the 
palace  of  the  Signory,  passing  through  the  very  chamber 
of  the  Gonfalionere  and  finally  burying  itself  in  the  pave- 
ment near  the  foot  of  the  grand  staircase.2  The  heavens 
themselves  seemed  to  be  fighting  on  behalf  of  the  illus- 
trious wanderers,  who  were  now  daily  expected  to  return 
to  the  city,  which  their  presence  alone  appeared  likely  to 
save  from  the  ruin  that  had  lately  overtaken  little  Prato. 
Already  masons  and  painters  were  busily  engaged  in  re- 
storing the  escutcheons  of  the  family  that  had  been 
pulled  down  by  the  mob  in  1494,  or  in  erasing  the  crimson 
cross,  the  heraldic  emblem  of  the  Florentine  people,  which 
had  in  certain  instances  replaced  the  familiar  coat  of  gold 
with  its  red  pellets,  the  historic  palle  of  the  Medicean 
House.  And  the  sight  of  this  hasty  transformation  of 
the  Cardinal's  armorial  bearings  on  the  old  palace  in  Via 
Larga  so  affected  a  worthy  citizen  belonging  to  the 
faction  of  the  PaJUeschi,  by  the  name  of  Gian-Andrea 
Cellini,  that,  being  of  a  poetical  turn  of  mind  although 
only  an  ebanista  or  inlayer  of  ivory  and  wood  by  pro- 
fession, he  set  himself  to  compose  a  quatrain  suitable  to 
the  occasion,  which,  so  we  learn  on  the  authority  of  his 
son  Benvenuto,  was  quoted  by  the  whole  of  Florence  : — 

Quest'  arme,  che  sepolta  e  stata  tanto 
Sotto  la  Santa  Croce  mansueta, 
Mostra  or  la  faccia  gloriosa  e  lieta, 
Aspettando  di  Pietro  il  sacro  ammanto.3 

1 "  Gigli  con  gigli  sempre  devono  fiorire." 

2  Jovius,  lib.  ii. 

3  Vita  di  Benvenuto  Cellini,  lib.  i.,  cap.  i. 
(This  glorious  shield,  concealed  for  many  a  year 
Beneath  the  sacred  Cross,  that  symbol  meet, 
Raises  once  more  a  joyful  face  to  greet 
Peter's  successor,  who  approaches  near.) 


RETURN  OF  THE  MEDICI  TO  FLORENCE     95 

The  gist  of  this  simple  little  epigram  must  have  ap- 
peared obvious  to  all  its  readers.  The  father  of  the 
prince  of  jewellers,  then  a  lad  in  his  twelfth  year,  thus 
artlessly  predicts  the  supreme  honour  which  in  the  near 
future  awaits  the  Cardinal  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  now 
tarrying  outside  the  gates  of  the  city  before  advancing 
to  occupy  again  the  grand  old  mansion  that  had  been  his 
birthplace. 

Meanwhile  Giuliano  had  already  passed  the  walls  on 
ist  September  and  taken  up  his  abode  in  the  house  of 
Messer  Francesco  degli  Albizzi,  one  of  his  keenest  sup- 
porters. Nevertheless,  deeming  that  as  a  matter  of 
course  he  had  returned  to  the  old  palace  in  Via  Larga, 
the  fickle  Florentine  crowd  must  needs  parade  the  broad 
space  before  the  palace  doors  to  cry  aloud,  Palle  !  Palle  !  in 
the  hope  of  attracting  the  attention  and  gaining  a  glimpse 
of  the  returned  prince.  Giuliano,  however,  on  his  part  ap- 
peared most  anxious  to  avoid  all  such  public  manifesta- 
tions, for  he  proceeded  to  walk  with  his  friends  unguarded 
about  the  streets,  after  first  donning  the  lucco  or  long 
citizen's  hood  and  shaving  off  beard  and  moustache  in 

o 

accordance  with  Florentine  taste.  So  far  as  he  was 
personally  concerned,  Giuliano  was  willing  and  even 
desirous  to  settle  down  as  a  private  individual  in  his 
native  city,  where  his  courteous  manners  and  innate 
modesty  soon  won  him  the  affection  of  all  save  the  more 
ardent  members  of  his  own  party.  But  his  liberal  views 
were  by  no  means  shared  by  his  elder  brother,  the 
Cardinal,  who  was  absolutely  determined  to  secure  the 
re-instatement  of  the  Medici  in  Florence  beyond  the 
possibility  of  another  expulsion  similar  to  that  of  1494. 
Prompt  measures,  the  Cardinal  was  convinced,  must  be 
taken  at  the  present  moment,  when  the  support  of 
Cardona's  army  lay  at  his  back  ;  for,  realising  Giuliano's 


96  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

pliable  nature  and  the  young  Lorenzo's  utter  inexperi- 
ence, he  was  fully  aware  that  this  unique  opportunity 
might  yet  be  wasted,  and  the  proud  position  held  in  suc- 
cession by  his  father,  his  grandfather  and  his  great-grand- 
father, might  again  be  wrested  from  his  House  on  the 
coming  retirement  of  the  Spaniards.  Amidst  wild  scenes 
of  enthusiasm,  therefore,  on  the  part  of  the  more  eager  of 
the  Palleschi,  who  were  quick  to  recognise  their  true 
leader  in  the  Cardinal- Legate  rather  than  in  the  gracious 
and  liberal-minded  Giuliano,  the  second  son  of  the 
Magnificent  Lorenzo  entered  the  city  by  the  Faenza 
Gate  with  400  Spanish  lances  and  1000  foot-soldiers, 
under  the  command  of  Ramazotto,  a  roving  captain  for 
whose  head  the  Florentine  Signory  had  only  a  few 
weeks  before  offered  blood-money  merely  on  account  of 
his  seeking  service  under  the  Medici.1  Taking  posses- 
sion in  state  of  his  former  residence  at  Sant'  Antonio, 
which  the  rabble  had  pillaged  and  whence  as  a  boy  of 
eighteen  he  had  fled  for  his  life  in  the  dingy  garb  of  a 
friar,  thus  did  Giovanni  de'  Medici  once  more  re-enter 
Florence .  as  her  undisputed  master  and  the  arbiter  of 
her  fate.  "The  city  was  reduced  to  the  point  of  help- 
lessness save  by  the  will  of  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici,  and 
his  method  was  the  method  of  complete  tyranny,"  wails 
Francesco  Vettori,  when  twro  days  after  his  arrival  at 
Sant'  Antonio,  Giovanni,  making  an  ingenious  use  of  the 
attendant  Spanish  army,  contrived  to  replace  the  late 
system  of  administration  by  a  Balm,  or  executive 
council,  consisting  of  forty-five  members  all  chosen  by 
the  Cardinal  and  all  therefore  devoted  adherents  of  the 
Medici.  Skilled  in  the  peculiar  diplomacy  of  his  father 
and  well  versed  in  the  traditions  of  his  House,  which 

1  Landucci,  p.  321. 


RETURN  OF  THE  MEDICI  TO  FLORENCE          97 

always  sought  the  substance  rather  than  the  pomp  of 
power,  the  Cardinal  was  yet  able  to  accomplish  this  in- 
ternal revolution  without  bloodshed  and  without  flagrant 
violation  of  the  old  republican  forms  ;  and  thus  the  Balia, 
arranged  and  erected  by  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  continued 
the  true  source  of  political  power  in  Florence  until  the 
third  and  last  exodus  of  the  Medicean  family  in  1527. 
Nor  did  the  victorious  Cardinal  disdain  to  make  use  of 
the  smaller  arts  in  winning  popular  applause  and  acqui- 
escence in  his  restored  rule,  for  he  organised  costly 
masquerades  to  tickle  the  people's  fancy,  causing  the  old 
Carnival  ditties,  against  which  Savonarola  had  waged 
so  fierce  a  war,  to  be  sung  once  more  in  the  streets, 
as  in  the  long-past  days  of  the  Magnificent  Lorenzo. 
These  efforts  to  revive  the  dormant  spirit  of  Florentine 
merriment  were  chiefly  carried  out  under  the  auspices  of 
the  two  newly  established  societies  of  the  Diamond  and 
the  Broncone,  or  Bough,  so  named  from  the  emblems  as- 
sumed respectively  by  Giuliano  and  Lorenzo  de'  Medici. 
Emblematic  heraldry  being  the  fashion  of  the  day,  the 
prudent  Giovanni  himself  did  not  despise  the  use  of  a 
personal  badge,  which  might  afford  all  men  a  clue  to 
his  intentions  and  ideas,  and  accordingly  he  selected  the 
device  of  an  ox-yoke  inscribed  with  the  single  word 
Suave,  in  allusion  to  the  significant  circumstance  that, 
however  firmly  fixed  his  rule  might  be  over  the  Floren- 
tines, yet  "  his  yoke  was  easy  and  his  burden  was  light".1 
But  it  is  impossible  to  dwell  further  on  the  numberless 
incidents  that  mark  the  restoration  of  the  Medici  in  1512, 
a  most  important  episode  in  Florentine  history,  of  which 
the  future  Leo  X.  is  at  once  the  presiding  genius  and  the 
picturesque  figure-head.  For,  apart  from  the  diplomatic 

1  Scipione  Ammirato,  Ritratti  de'  Medici  (Opuscoli,  vol.  iii.). 
7 


98  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

skill  exhibited  by  him  throughout  this  critical  period  and 
the  careful  steps  whereby  he  secured  the  political  triumph 
of  his  House  without  seriously  offending  public  opinion, 
it  is  necessary  also  to  record  the  remarkable  clemency 
which  as  conqueror  he  displayed  towards  the  city  that 
had  so  ignominiously,  not  to  say  unjustly,  expelled  and 
outlawed  him  in  his  youth.  Such  mild  treatment  goes 
to  prove,  if  any  further  proof  were  needed,  the  real  affec- 
tion which  Leo  X.  bore  towards  Florence,  as  well  as  his 
natural  inclination  to  mercy,  a  quality  of  which  his  con- 
temporaries so  often  speak  with  admiration.  And  when 
we  reflect  upon  the  all-pervading  spirit  of  fury  and  venge- 
ance of  those  times,  and  call  to  mind  the  innumerable 
acts  of  bloody  retribution  wrought  in  that  same  spirit,  it 
becomes  impossible  for  any  impartial  person  to  withhold 
praise  for  the  forbearance,  the  patience  and  the  kindli- 
ness of  a  prince  who  had  at  last  regained  possession  of 
a  rebellious  and  ungrateful  city  after  so  many  years  spent 
in  undeserved  poverty  and  exile. 

As  the  actual,  though  not  officially  recognised  head 
of  the  Florentine  state,  the  Cardinal  now  gave  audience 
to  the  papal  datary,  Lorenzo  Pucci,  and  to  other  am- 
bassadors, including  the  powerful  Bishop  Lang,  whom 
he  entertained  at  the  family  villa  of  Caffagiolo,  where  so 
much  of  his  own  childhood  had  been  spent.  But  fate 
did  not  intend  the  Cardinal's  personal  guardianship  of 
Florence  to  be  of  long  duration,  for  shortly  after  the  ex- 
posure of  Boscoli's  abortive  plot,  which  only  served  to 
rivet  yet  more  firmly  the  new-forged  Medicean  fetters, 
there  arrived  in  February,  1513,  news  first  of  the  illness 
and  then  of  the  death  of  Pope  Julius,  who  expired  on  the 
twentieth  day  of  that  month.  Despite  the  fact  that  he 
was  suffering  severely  from  a  constitutional  malady  and 
in  consequence  appeared  unequal  to  bear  the  fatigues  of 


RETURN  OF  THE  MEDICI  TO  FLORENCE  99 

the  tedious  journey  to  Rome,  the  Cardinal  hastily  made 
arrangements  for  the  government  of  the  city  in  his  ab- 
sence, and  was  then  conveyed  southward  in  a  litter  in 
order  to  assist  at  the  coming  conclave.  Men  nodded 
their  heads  and  speculated  as  to  the  prospects  of  the 
Florentine  Cardinal's  election,  for  notwithstanding  his 
comparative  youth  and  his  precarious  health,  Giovanni 
de'  Medici  had  by  sheer  force  of  talent  combined  with 
patient  statecraft  already  won  back  Florence  ;  and  now 
that  the  Medicean  star  was  once  again  in  the  ascendant, 
not  a  few  persons  were  ready  to  predict  that  as  one  of  the 
ablest,  the  noblest  born  and  the  most  popular  members 
of  the  Sacred  College,  the  second  son  of  Lorenzo  the 
Magnificent  owned  an  excellent  chance  of  obtaining  the 
supreme  honour  of  Christendom,  so  as  to  complete  the 
recent  triumph  of  his  illustrious  House,  which  had  at 
last  recovered  its  old  prestige  and  importance  in  the 
polity  of  Italy. 


CHAPTER  V 

LEO  DECIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS 

Cette  Europe  des  premieres  annees  de  la  XVIme  sieclo, 
laboured  par  la  guerre,  decimee  par  la  peste,  ou  toutes  les  nationalites 
de  1'Europe  interme'diare  s'agitent  en  cherchant  leur  assiette  sous 
runite"  apparent  de  la  monarchic  universelle  de  1'Espagne ;  ou  Ton 
voit  d'un  meme  coup  d'ceil  des  querelles  re"ligieuses  et  des  batailles, 
une  mele'e  inouie  des  hommes  et  des  choses,  une  religion  naissante 
en  lutte  de  violence  avec  la  religion  e"tablie,  l'ignorance  de  1'Europe 
occidentale  se  debattant  centre  la  lumiere  de  1'Italie :  l'antiquit£ 
qui  sort  de  son  tombeau,  les  langues  mortes  qui  renaissent,  la  grand£ 
tradition  litte"raire  qui  vient  rendre  le  sens  des  choses  de  1'esprit  a 
des  intelligences  perverties  par  les  raffinements  de  la  dialectique 
religeuse  ;  du  fracas  partout ;  du  silence  nulle  part :  les  hommes  vivant 
comme  les  pelerins  et  cherchant  leur  patrie  ca  et  la ;  une  republique 
litte'raire  et  chretienne  de  tous  les  esprits  Sieves,  re"unis  par  la  langue 
Latine,  cette  langue  qui  faisait  encore  toutes  les  grandes  affaires  de 
1'Europe  a  cette  e"poque ;  d'e"pouvan  tables  barbaries  a  cote"  d'un 
pre\:oce  ^l^gance  des  moeurs ;  une  immense  me!6e  militaire,  r^ligieuse, 
philosophique,  monacale  (M.  Nisard,  Renaissance  et  Reforme). 

IT  affords  some  satisfaction  to  recall  that  the  last  days 
of  Pope  Julius  were  marked  by  edifying  conduct, 
and  that  he  prepared  for  his  approaching  end  with 
a  calm  dignity  well  befitting  the  august  office  he  held. 
Summoning  the  Consistory  to  assemble  a  few  days  prior 
to  his  agony,  the  aged  Pontiff,  stretched  on  the  sick-bed 
whence  he  was  fated  never  to  rise,  despatched  a  peremp- 
tory message  to  his  cardinals  to  refrain  from  all  simony 
or  bribery  at  the  coming  election  of  his  own  successor ; 
he  lamented  the  defection  of  the  rebellious  Carvajal  and 
Sanseverino,  yet  as  a  man  he  would  not  refuse  them  his 

100 


LEO  DECIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS  101 

final  blessing",  although  as  Pontiff  he  was  denouncing  their 
late  secession  in  terms  of  withering  hate  ;  he  spoke  also 
of  Christ's  Church,  with  complacency  designating  himself 
a  miserable  sinner  and  an  unworthy  vice-regent,  who 
had  however  consistently  striven  for  the  true  interests  of 
the  Holy  See.  To  the  last  the  dying  Pope  continued 
to  utter  imprecations  against  the  French  and  the  obdu- 
rate Alfonso  of  Ferrara,  whose  fall  he  had  been  so  anxious 
to  accomplish  ;  the  cry  of  "  Fuori !  Fuori !  Barbari !  " 
(Out  of  Italy,  ye  Barbarians  !)  still  issued  from  the  cracking 
lips  in  the  frequent  attacks  of  feverish  delirium,  and  his 
wondering  attendants  sometimes  imagined  that  these 
half-conscious  threats  were  levelled  not  only  at  the  dis- 
comfited Gaul,  but  also  at  the  favoured  Spaniard,  whose 
sword  the  bellicose  Pontiff  had  not  scrupled  to  utilise  in 
his  late  campaigns.  At  length  the  constant  flow  of  hazy 
invective  ceased,  and  the  old  man  passed  away  peace- 
fully, the  news  of  his  death  provoking  an  outburst  of 
genuine  grief  in  Rome,  the  like  of  which  had  not  been 
seen  within  the  memory  of  living  man,  and  which  seems 
to  have  astonished  the  decorous  Paris  de  Grassis,  the 
papal  master  of  ceremonies,  to  whom  Julius  had  long 
since  given  explicit  instructions  as  to  the  decent  disposal 
of  his  corpse.  Loud  were  the  lamentations  of  the  Roman 
populace,  which  was  traditionally  expected  to  curse  a 
pontiff  when  dead,  however  much  it  may  have  cringed 
to  him  during  life  ;  tears  were  falling  on  all  sides  ;  women 
with  dishevelled  hair  were  weeping  like  children  at  the 
gates  of  the  Vatican  ;  the  crowd  struggled  fiercely  to 
kiss  the  papal  feet  which  according  to  ancient  custom 
were  made  to  protrude  outside  the  enclosing  grille  of  the 
mortuary  chapel.  Uomo  terribile,  Julius  was  vaguely 
accounted  a  patriot  by  the  short-sighted  Italians,  who 
totally  failed  to  recognise  in  this  papal  scourge  of  the 


102  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

hated  foreigner  the  true  consolidator  of  the  temporal 
power  of  the  Papacy.  No,  it  was  the  grand  Pontiff,  now 
lying  in  state  before  them,  who  had  chased  the  invading 
French  back  across  the  Alps  ;  that  was  all  men  cared  to 
remember  at  the  last  hour  of  Julius. 

Considered  solely  as  a  secular  prince  and  judged  by 
the  standard  of  his  own  turbulent  age,  Julius  certainly 
shines  as  a  monarch  who  was  guided  by  definite  and 
high-minded  principles  rather  than  by  pure  self-interest 
for  himself  or  for  some  less  worthy  brother  or  nephew. 
He  had  continued  the  policy  of  the  Borgia,  it  is  true, 
but  all  his  exertions  had  been  made  to  strengthen  the 
Holy  See,  of  which  he  had  always  deemed  himself  but 
the  temporary  guardian,  and  not  to  found  a  principality 
for  some  kinsman.  For  with  the  sole  exception  of  the 
little  town  of  Pesaro,  all  the  hard-won  conquests  of 
the  late  Pope  had  gone  to  swell  that  papal  empire,  which 
Julius  considered  absolutely  essential  for  the  proper 
maintenance  and  autonomy  of  himself  and  his  successors. 
So  far  then  as  he  is  the  acknowledged  founder  of  the 
States  of  the  Church,  Julius  appears  as  a  disinterested 
and  even  patriotic  conqueror.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
we  turn  to  criticise  his  career  from  a  moral  standpoint, 
regarding  him  (as  he  doubtless  regarded  himself)  as  the 
Vicar  of  Christ,  the  vice-regent  of  the  Prince  of  Peace, 
what  language  can  be  found  adequate  to  convey  an 
opinion  of  the  violent  old  man  who  deliberately  embroiled 
all  the  princes  of  Europe,  and  deluged  his  own  unhappy 
country  with  blood,  all  for  the  sake  of  a  few  coveted 
towns  and  fortresses  ?  Fire  and  sword,  rapine  and 
starvation,  these  are  the  characteristics  of  the  reign  of 
Julius  II.,  who  nevertheless  expired  perfectly  contented 
with  the  results  of  his  blood-stained  pontificate  and 
utterly  unconscious  of  the  mischief  he  had  wrought  or  the 


GIULIANO  BELLA   ROVERE  (JULIUS   II) 


LEO  DECIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS  103 

Divine  laws  he  had  broken.  "He  was  so  great  that 
he  might  be  accounted  an  Emperor  rather  than  a  Pope  !  " 
remarks  the  half-admiring  Francesco  Vettori ;  whilst 
Guicciardini,  the  Livy  of  his  age,  who  after  Machiavelli 
ranks  as  its  pervading  genius,  expresses  more  forcibly 
his  private  opinion  concerning  the  famous  Warrior- Pope. 
"  Only  those  who  have  abandoned  the  art  of  plain 
speaking  and  have  lost  the  habit  of  right  thinking  extol 
this  Pontiffs  memory  above  that  of  his  predecessors.  It 
is  such  persons  who  declare  it  to  be  the  Pope's  duty  to 
add  territory  to  the  Apostolic  See  by  force  of  arms  and 
spilling  of  Christian  blood,  rather  than  to  occupy  him- 
self in  setting  a  good  example,  in  correcting  the  general 
decay  of  morals  and  in  trying  to  save  the  souls  for  whose 
sake  Christ  has  made  him  His  vicar  on  earth."  1  But 
far  more  illuminating  than  a  score  of  dissertations  upon 
the  morality  and  aims  of  Julius  II.  is  an  inspection  of 
Raphael's  splendid  portrait  of  this  Pope,2  which  hangs  in 
the  Pitti  Palace  at  Florence.3  The  Umbrian  artist,  it  is 
needless  to  relate,  has  depicted  his  subject  in  a  most 
favourable  attitude.  Exhausted  and  anxious,  the  old 
man  sits  wearily  in  the  broad  high-backed  chair,  his  be- 
jewelled hands  clinging  for  support  to  the  framework 
and  his  bearded  chin  sunk  languidly  upon  his  breast. 
Physically  he  is  resting,  but  his  quick  mind,  the  painter 
clearly  shows  us,  is  still  at  work,  for  the  Pope's  brain  was 
ever  teeming  with  the  many  grandiose  schemes  which 
only  the  natural  term  of  years  forbade  him  to  accomplish. 
It  is  a  moment  of  necessary  repose,  but  merely  the  repose 

1  Storia  d"  Italia,  lib.  xi. 

2  The  original  cartoon,  of  more  interest  than  the  painting  itself, 
is  preserved  in  the  Corsini  Palace  in  Florence. 

3  The  National  Gallery  of  London  possesses  a  fine  replica  of  this 
celebrated  portrait. 


io4  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

of  a  quiescent  volcano  that  is  ready  at  any  minute  to 
burst  into  fierce  flames  of  passion  or  invective.  Perhaps 
this  fascinating  likeness  has  performed  better  service  to 
the  memory  of  the  irascible  Julius  than  all  the  arguments 
of  his  apologists.  The  venerable  countenance,  distin- 
guished by  "  the  natural  foliage  of  the  face  "  (as  the 
courtly  Valeriano  named  this  novelty  of  a  papal  beard), 
the  nervous  supple  hands,  the  crimson  velvet  vestments, 
the  air  of  profound  reflection,  all  appeal  strongly  to 
posterity  on  behalf  of  the  Warrior-Pope,  for  they  produce 
an  undeniable  effect  of  real  majesty  and  of  lofty  medita- 
tion. Julius  was  not  without  his  virtues,  but  these,  as 
we  have  tried  to  explain,  were  more  than  balanced  by 
his  defects  ;  yet  here  in  Raphael's  admirable  picture  of 
the  Pontiff,  the  virtues  alone  are  apparent,  the  vices  are 
not  perceptible.  The  unrestrained  temper,  the  vulgar 
peasant's  suspicion,  the  coarseness,  the  indifference  to 
suffering  are  not  suggested  on  the  canvas  :  only  the 
grandeur  of  the  Pope's  conceptions  and  his  stately 
presence  are  exhibited  to  our  scrutiny.  Magnificent  as 
it  undoubtedly  is  as  a  masterpiece  of  the  great  painter, 
yet  Raphael's  portrait  of  Julius  II.  does  not  afford  so 
perfect  a  mirror  of  the  mind  as  does  his  likeness  of  Leo 
X.,  which  also  adorns  the  collection  of  the  Pitti  Palace. 
Strange  it  is  that  both  these  glorious  portraits  of  the  two 
greatest  of  the  Popes  of  the  Renaissance,  who  represent 
respectively  the  selfish  violence  and  the  pagan  culture  of 
that  brilliant  epoch,  should  thus  finally  be  placed  side  by 
side  in  a  Florentine  gallery,  where  "  all  the  world  in 
circle  "  can  pass  by  and  draw  its  own  conclusions  of  the 
character  and  worth  of  each  from  the  pictures  of  the 
divine  artist  of  Urbino. 

There   were   only    twenty-four    cardinals    in    Rome 
ready   to  assemble  in   the  ensuing  conclave.     On    the 


LEO  DECIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS  105 

morning  of  4th  March,  therefore,  all  these  attended  the 
customary  mass  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  owing  to  the 
dilapidated  state  of  St.  Peter's  had  to  be  sung  in  the 
adjacent  chapel  of  St.  Andrew  instead  of  at  the  high 
altar.  Through  the  chinks  and  crevices  of  the  tottering 
walls  the  stormy  wrinds  of  March  shrieked  and  wailed, 
whilst  the  acolytes  were  kept  busily  employed  in  relight- 
ing the  tapers  on  the  altar,  which  the  tempest  would  not 
permit  to  burn  steadily.  After  this  ceremony,  of  necessity 
shorn  of  its  usual  splendour,  the  cardinals  entered  the 
building,  which  according  to  the  prescribed  rule  had 
every  door  locked  and  every  window  hermetically  sealed, 
so  that  it  is  easy  for  us  to  comprehend  how  dreaded  an 
ordeal  a  conclave  always  seemed  to  the  older  and  feebler 
members  of  the  Sacred  College. 

Giovanni  de'  Medici,  who  on  account  of  a  terrible 
ulcer  had  been  compelled  to  travel  in  a  litter  all  the  way 
from  Florence  to  Rome,  did  not  reach  the  conclave  until 
6th  March,  arriving  in  such  a  state  of  pain  and  exhaustion 
that  it  was  evident  to  all  that  the  immediate  attendance 
of  a  surgeon  was  imperative.  A  certain  Giacomo  of 
Brescia,1  who  had  gained  a  high  reputation  for  his  medical 
skill,  chanced  to  be  in  Rome  at  this  moment,  and  he 
was  accordingly  admitted  within  the  carefully  guarded 
portals  of  the  building,  where  he  operated  with  success 
upon  the  suffering  Cardinal,  who  for  some  days  remained 
too  ill  to  leave  his  bed,  whilst  his  colleagues  were  still 
wrangling  and  scheming  over  their  choice  of  a  new  Pope. 
At  length  on  the  seventh  day  of  discussion,  the  guardians 
of  the  conclave,  in  order  to  bring  to  a  point  the  delibera- 
tions of  the  cardinals,  decided  to  reduce  the  daily  meal 
of  the  princes  of  the  Church  to  one  solitary  dish,  and  this 

1  His  house,  a  good  specimen  of  Renaissance  architecture,  is  still 
standing  in  the  Borgo  Nuovo  near  St.  Peter's. 


106  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

parsimonious  diet  combined  with  the  stifling  air  of  their 
present  abode  at  last  produced  an  universal  desire  in  the 
imprisoned  members  of  the  College  to  select  a  Pontiff 
speedily,  if  only  as  a  means  of  escape  from  the  foul 
atmosphere  and  the  scanty  supply  of  food.  The  elder 
members  of  the  conclave  had  now  tired  of  their  persist- 
ent but  unavailing  efforts  on  behalf  of  Cardinal  Alborese, 
whilst  the  younger  faction  was  joined  by  Raffaele  Riario, 
cousin  of  the  late  Pope,  who  had  originally  aspired  to  the 
tiara  himself  but  was  beginning  to  realise  the  hopelessness 
of  his  secret  ambition.  Meanwhile  the  younger  cardinals, 
and  especially  a  clique  formed  of  such  as  belonged  to 
reigning  houses,  like  Louis  of  Aragon,  Ghismondo 
Gonzaga  of  Mantua,  Ippolito  d'  Este  of  Ferrara  and 
Alfonso  Petrucci  of  Siena,  were  most  eager  to  elect  one 
of  their  own  rank  and  ideas.  They  were  heartily  sick 
of  the  late  Pontiffs  savage  wars  with  their  attendant 
horrors  and  fatigues ;  they  were  still  smarting  from  the 
sharp  reproofs  and  lectures  of  the  rough  Ligurian  peasant 
who  had  been  their  master  ;  and  they  were  consequently 
most  anxious  to  obtain  a  Pope  who  should  appear  in 
every  way  the  exact  opposite  of  Julius  II.  in  birth, 
manners  and  principles.  Now,  there  was  no  one  of  their 
number  answering  better  to  this  description  than  Giovanni 
de'  Medici,  who  was  the  son  of  a  sovereign,  was  a 
cultured  man  of  letters  and  was  credited  with  peaceful 
proclivities.  Medici  was  likewise  the  most  popular 
member  of  the  Sacred  College,  wrherein  he  did  not 
possess  a  single  enemy,  if  we  except  Francesco  Soderini, 
brother  of  the  recently  expelled  Gonfalionere  of  Florence, 
yet  even  in  this  solitary  instance  of  real  enmity,  opposition 
was  removed  through  the  tactful  machinations  of  Bernardo 
Dovizi,  now  serving  as  Medici's  secretary  in  the  conclave, 
who  contrived  to  placate  the  hostile  Florentine  Cardinal 


LEO  DECIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS  107 

by  hinting  at  a  possible  matrimonial  alliance  between  the 
young  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  and  a  daughter  of  the  rival 
House  of  Soderini.  Those  engaging  manners  and 
studied  efforts  to  please,  which  Medici  had  always  culti- 
vated so  assiduously,  had  in  fact  endeared  him  to  all 
his  companions  in  the  College,  whereof,  though  com- 
paratively still  a  young  man,  he  had  been  a  member  for 
twenty-four  years  and  had  participated  in  four  papal 
elections.  The  proposal  of  Medici's  name  therefore  as 
being  papabile,  or  worthy  of  the  tiara,  was  received  with 
general  satisfaction,  and  now  that  the  adhesion  of  both 
Riario  and  Soderini  had  been  gained  by  the  young 
Cardinal's  supporters,  his  election  became  a  foregone  con- 
clusion. On  nth  March  the  formal  scrutiny  took  place, 
whereat  Medici  himself,  as  senior  Deacon,  had  to  record 
and  count  the  votes  cast  into  the  urn.  A  true  son  of 
Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  the  Pontiff  elect  showed  in  his 
face  and  manner  no  trace  of  triumph  or  pleasure  whilst 
thus  employed  :  a  circumstance  which  afforded  great  satis- 
faction to  his  colleagues.  With  perfect  calm  the  new 
Pope  received  the  proffered  homage  of  his  late  peers, 
and  on  being  requested  to  announce  the  pontifical  title 
which  he  intended  to  assume,  Medici  replied  with  modest 
hesitation  that  he  would  prefer  to  be  known  as  Leo  X., 
provided  the  Sacred  College  approved  of  this  selection 
of  a  name.  The  title  indeed  caused  some  surprise,  as 
coming  from  one  to  whom  the  epithet  clemens  or  plus 
might  have  been  deemed  more  appropriate ;  nevertheless, 
the  cardinals,  who  were  doubtless  ignorant  of  Medici's 
hidden  reason  for  preferring  so  vigorous  a  title,1  declared 
their  consent,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  call  it  an  ideal 
name,  which  they  themselves  would  have  chosen  had 

1  See  chapter  i. 


io8  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

similar  luck  befallen  them.  The  formal  preliminaries  of 
an  election  being  concluded,  Alessandro  Farnese  now 
broke  the  seals  laid  upon  the  shuttered  windows  over- 
looking the  piazza,  and  thrusting  his  head  through  the 
aperture,  in  a  loud  voice  announced  the  welcome  intelli- 
gence to  the  expectant  crowd  below  in  the  usual  set 
terms: — "Gaudium  magnum  nuntio  vobis  !  Papam 
habemus,  Reverendissimum  Dominum  Johannem  de 
Medicis,  Diaconum  Cardinalem  Sanctae  Mariae  in 
Domenica,  qui  vocatur  Leo  Decimus ! "  (I  bring  you 
tidings  of  great  joy!  We  have  a  Pope,  the  most 
Reverend  Lord,  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  Cardinal  Deacon 
of  Santa  Maria  in  Domenica,  who  is  called  Leo  X. !) 

Thus  at  the  remarkably  early  age  of  thirty-seven  was 
Giovanni,  second  son  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  late  tyrant 
of  Florence,  elevated  under  the  happiest  of  auspices  to 
the  highest  dignity  in  all  Christendom.  For  although 
the  conclave  of  1513  cannot  be  accounted  free  from  in- 
trigue, yet  it  appears  in  striking  contrast  with  most  of  the 
papal  elections  that  had  preceded  it.  Nor  was  there 
any  suspicion  of  bribery  in  Medici's  case,  unless  Bibbiena's 
successful  attempt  to  win  over  the  reluctant  Soderini  can 
be  considered  as  such ;  broadly  speaking,  the  choice 
made  was  spontaneous,  and  one  that  relied  solely  on  the 
merits  and  position  of  the  person  selected.  Malicious 
rumour  certainly  hinted  that  the  support  of  Riario  and 
the  older  cardinals  had  been  gained  in  their  full  belief 
that  Medici,  despite  his  youthful  years,  was  not  likely  to 
survive  his  newly  acquired  dignity  any  great  length  of 
time,  since  he  was  in  obvious  ill-health  and  suffering, 
even  in  the  conclave,  from  a  painful  malady,  concerning 
which  the  accurate  Paris  de  Grassis  presents  us  with  a 
mass  of  minute  and  revolting  details.1  This  prejudiced 

1  Creighton,  vol.  v. 


LEO  DECIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS  109 

view  did  not,  however,  reflect  the  general  opinion  of  the 
time,  nor  has  it  been  endorsed  by  modern  historians, 
who  are  inclined  to  follow  the  more  kindly  criticism  of 
Francesco  Guicciardini : — 

"Almost  all  Christendom  heard  with  the  greatest  joy 
of  the  election  of  Leo  the  Tenth,  and  on  all  sides  men 
were  firmly  persuaded  that  at  last  they  had  obtained  a 
Pontiff  distinguished  above  all  others  by  the  gifts  of  mind 
he  had  inherited  from  a  noble  father,  and  by  the  reports 
of  his  generosity  and  clemency  that  resounded  from  all 
quarters.  He  was  esteemed  chaste  ;  his  morals  were 
excellent  ;  and  men  trusted  to  find  in  him,  as  in  his 
parent's  case,  a  lover  of  literature  and  all  the  fine  arts. 
And  these  hopes  waxed  all  the  stronger,  seeing  that  his 
election  had  taken  place  properly,  without  simony  or 
suspicion  of  any  irregularity." 

In  Rome  itself  the  election  of  Leo  X.  was  hailed  with 
unfeigned  satisfaction,  and  with  exuberant  joy  in  that 
world  of  letters  and  culture  whereof  the  late  Cardinal  de' 
Medici  had  for  many  years  been  regarded  as  a  munificent 
patron.  But  the  expressions  of  content  in  the  Eternal 
City  were  mild  in  comparison  with  the  frantic  outburst  of 
popular  rejoicing,  which  was  now  witnessed  in  Florence, 
the  place  of  the  new  Pontiffs  birth.  The  momentous 
news  from  Rome  arrived  in  Florence  at  two  of  the  clock 
on  the  Friday  following  the  scrutiny,  and  when  the  report 
was  officially  confirmed,  the  ecstacy  of  the  Palleschi,  now 
of  course  the  ruling  party,  knew  no  bounds  of  reason  or 
restraint.  The  bells  were  rung  madly  ;  fireworks  were 
exploded  ;  artillery  was  fired  ;  and  in  all  the  streets  bon- 
fires were  raised  of  tar-barrels  and  brushwood,  supple- 
mented in  many  cases  by  the  household  furniture  of 
unfortunate  citizens  suspected  of  hostility  to  the  Medici. 

1  Storid '  delt  Italia,  lib.  xi. 


no  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

The  shops  and  dwellings  of  the  poor  Piagnoni,  the  puritan 
followers  of  Savonarola,  were  on  all  sides  plundered, 
while  in  not  a  few  instances  the  roofs  were  set  alight  by 
crowds  of  Medicean  partisans,  drunken  with  wine  or 
enthusiasm,  and  shouting  aloud  Palle  !  and  Papa  Leone  ! 
at  the  top  of  their  raucous  Tuscan  voices.  The  din  was 
terrific,  and  the  disorder  finally  grew  so  serious,  that  the 
Florentine  Council  of  Eight,  alarmed  for  the  public 
safety,  was  compelled  to  issue  an  order  threatening  with 
the  gallows  all  persons  caught  in  the  act  of  robbery  or 
arson.  This  Medicean  orgy — quest  a  pestilenzia,  as  the 
republican  Landucci  styles  these  proceedings — endured 
for  four  days,  during  which  time  the  whole  town  resounded 
with  festal  explosions  and  reeked  with  the  pungent  smoke 
of  the  bonfires,  which  the  revellers  kindled  daily  before 
the  Palazzo  Vecchio  or  in  front  of  the  Medicean  mansion. 
Other  adherents  of  the  Medici  regaled  the  eager  crowds 
with  sweet  wine  drawn  out  of  gilded  barrels,  that  had 
been  set  in  rows  upon  the  historic  Ringkiera1  of  the 
civic  palace.  As  a  final  proof  of  the  city's  intense  joy 
and  proud  content,  a  deputation  of  prominent  officials 
fetched  from  Impruneta  the  famous  statue  of  the  Madonna, 
the  palladium  of  the  Florentines,  and  with  the  effigy 
gorgeously  arrayed  in  nine  new  mantles  of  cloth -of-gold, 
the  procession  halted  before  the  portals  of  Casa  Medici 
in  Via  Larga,  where  food  and  wine  were  provided  and 
crackers  exploded.  But  in  the  midst  of  this  bout  of 
unrestrained  carnival  over  the  novel  honour  that  had 
befallen  the  city,  there  were  not  lacking  some  sober 
spirits,  who  were  able  to  discern  the  dubious  advantages 
of  a  Florentine  Pope.  "I  am  not  surprised,"  remarked 
to  certain  bystanders  the  shrewd  Lomellino,  the 

1 A  stone  platform  extending  along  the  northern  side   of  the 
palace,  long  since  removed. 


LEO  DECIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS  in 

historian  of  Genoa,  who  was  an  amused  spectator  of  these 
scenes  of  popular  rejoicing,  "at  your  present  satisfaction, 
since  your  city  has  never  yet  produced  a  Pope,  but  when 
you  have  once  gained  this  experience,  as  has  been  our 
case  in  Genoa,  you  will  grow  to  realise  a  Pontiff's  dealings 
with  his  native  land  and  the  price  his  fellow-citizens  have 
to  pay  for  the  honour."1 

Giovanni  de'  Medici  was,  as  we  have  already  said, 
only  in  his  thirty-eighth  year  when  he  attained  to  the 
supreme  dignity,  which  one  of  his  father's  courtiers,  the 
poet  Philomus,  had  predicted  for  him  nearly  a  quarter 
of  a  century  before; — "What  joy,"  had  cried  the  far- 
seeing  bard,  "  will  so  high  an  honour  afford  your  beloved 
parent,  and  what  verses  will  Apollo  inspire  me  to  write 
in  commemoration  of  the  event!  "2 

Eximiumque  caput  sacra  redimire  thyara 
Pontificis  summi ;  proh  gaudia  quanta  parenti 
Turn  dabis,  et  quantis  mihi  turn  spirabit  Apollo  ! 

In  outward  appearance  the  new  Pontiff  was  tall  with 
a  dignified  carriage,  despite  a  stout  and  unwieldy  frame. 
His  head  was  disproportionately  large ;  his  smooth- 
shaven  countenance  was  flushed  and  unhealthy  in  hue ; 
whilst  his  great  prominent  eyes  were  so  feeble  of  vision 
that  in  order  to  perceive  any  person  or  object,  no  matter 
how  familiar,  the  Pope  was  obliged  to  use  continually  a 
spy-glass,  wrhich  was  rarely  absent  from  his  hand.  He 
had  a  short  fleshy  neck  with  a  pronounced  double  chin, 
a  broad  chest  and  an  enormous  paunch,  with  which  his 
spindling  legs  made  a  curious  contrast.  His  only  claim 
to  physical  beauty  lay  in  his  hands,  of  which  their  owner 
was  inordinately  proud  and  was  frequently  to  be  observed 
examining  with  artless  satisfaction ;  they  were  plump, 

1  Bacciotti,  Firenze  Illustrata,  vol.  i.,  p.  78. 

2  Roscoe,  Appendix  IX. 


ii2  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

white  and  shapely,  and  usually  adorned  with  rare  and 
splendid  gems.1  Unlike  his  father,  whose  speech  was 
always  rasping  and  singularly  unpleasing  to  the  ear,  Leo 
was  the  happy  possessor  of  a  soft,  persuasive  and  well- 
modulated  voice ;  his  manner  was  almost  invariably 
courteous  and  genial,  and  he  had  sedulously  trained  his 
natural  gift  of  tact  to  the  highest  degree  of  perfection,  so 
that  he  could  always  appear  deferential  towards  his 
elders,  and  jocular,  or  even  boisterous  in  the  society  of 
younger  men.  As  may  be  gathered  from  this  description, 
the  youthful  Pope  did  not  enjoy  robust  health.2  From 
his  early  years  he  had  been  the  victim  of  a  chronic 
infirmity  which  the  ignorant  quacks  of  that  age  could 
neither  cure  nor  alleviate,  and  which  not  only  caused  him 
perpetual  inconvenience  and  frequent  attacks  of  pain, 
but  also  at  certain  times  rendered  the  poor  sufferer's 
presence  most  unpleasant  to  the  friends  around  him. 
It  speaks  eloquently  for  Leo's  natural  good-nature  and 
his  acquired  habit  of  self-control,  that  he  never  allowed 
this  constant  source  of  annoyance  to  affect  his  temper, 
which  seems  to  have  remained  even  and  suave  to  the 
last. 

Since  Giovanni  de'  Medici  was  but  a  deacon  in  the 
conclave  whence  he  issued  as  Pope,  with  all  convenient 
despatch  he  was  ordained  priest  on  I5th  March,  and 
consecrated  bishop  two  days  later,  whilst  on  igth  March 
he  was  formally  enthroned  and  crowned,  the  Cardinals 

1  Vita  Anonyma  Leonis  X.,  Bossi-Roscoe,  Appendix  CCXVIII. ; 
Jovius,  lib.  iv. ;  Scipione  Ammirato,  Rittrati  de  Medici,  etc. 

2  Quod  ad  valetudinem  attinet,   ulcere  quodam   quod    fistulam 
vocant  in  inferiore  parte  corporis  quae  plurime  carne  contecta  est 
laborabat,    eoque    interdum    graviter    cruciabatur;    nam    cum    in- 
tercluderetur   plerumque  sanies   retentaque  fluere  solita   erat,  eum 
ita  perturbabat ;  atque  ita  de  valetudine  dejiciebat,  ut  praeter  ulceris 
dolorem  febre   etiam   corriperetur,   sed   ea   brevi   solvebatur    (Vita 
Anonyma  Leonis  X.) 


LEO  DECIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS  113 

Farnese  and  Louis  of  Aragon  placing  the  heavy  triple 
diadem  on  his  head.  For  this  purpose  a  pavilion  had 
been  specially  erected  on  the  steps  of  the  dilapidated 
basilica  of  St.  Peter,  the  fagade  of  which  bore  in  large 
letters  of  gold  an  inscription  in  honour  of  "  Leo  the 
Tenth,  Supreme  Pontiff,  Protector  of  the  Arts  and 
Patron  of  Good  Works  ".  The  usual  ritual  of  a  papal 
coronation  was  duly  carried  out  in  this  meagre  temporary 
building,  and  Paris  de  Grassis  describes  in  his  Diary  how, 
as  master  of  the  ceremonies,  he  bore  in  accordance  with 
ancient  custom  to  the  foot  of  the  throne  a  rod  decorated 
with  a  bunch  of  tow,  which  he  ignited  with  a  burning 
taper,  and  then,  whilst  the  dry  flax  was  being  rapidly 
consumed  in  a  sheet  of  bright  flame,  addressed  the  time- 
honoured  warning :  "  Holy  Father,  thus  passeth  away 
the  glory  of  this  world!"  And  again,  "Thou  shalt 
never  see  the  years  of  Peter,"  whose  traditional  reign  as 
first  Pontiff  is  said  to  have  endured  for  twenty -five  years.1 
And  yet  Leo  was  but  thirty-seven,  so  that,  if  he  were  to 
attain  to  the  ordinary  human  age-limit  of  threescore 
years  and  ten,  he  would  then  have  exceeded  by  eight 
summers  the  great  Apostle's  tenure  of  the  dignity ; 
nevertheless,  the  young  Pope's  indifferent  state  of  health 
rendered  such  an  admonition  a  salutary  warning  in  the 
midst  of  all  this  pomp  and  worship. 

By  ancient  precedent  it  was  permitted  to  the  cardinals 
assisting  at  a  papal  coronation  to  present  petitions  to  the 
new  master  who  had  been  their  late  colleague,  and  on 
this  occasion  Medici's  reputation  for  lavish  generosity 
and  his  dislike  of  refusal  had  the  effect  of  giving  rise  to 

1  Of  the  Roman  Pontiffs,  Pius  IX.  (1846-1878)  has  exceeded 
"the  Years  of  Peter,"  as  he  has  himself  proudly  recorded  above  the 
Apostle's  statue  in  the  nave  of  the  Basilica.  Also  Leo  XIII.,  whose 
reign  occupied  twenty-five  years  (1878-1903). 


ii4  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

an  extraordinary  number  of  requests  from  the  cardinals 
on  behalf  of  themselves,  their  relations  and  their  innumer- 
able dependants.  So  boundless  were  the  extent  and 
variety  of  their  demands  that  Leo,  half-amused  and 
half-disgusted  at  the  audacity  of  many  of  their  pleas, 
rebuked  the  unseemly  greed  of  the  Sacred  College  with 
a  mild  but  satirical  reproof:  "  Take  my  tiara,"  exclaimed 
the  Pontiff  to  his  importunate  suppliants,  "and  act  as  if 
each  one  of  you  were  Pope  himself!  Agree  among 
yourselves  on  what  you  desire,  and  take  your  fill."1 

For  the  late  ceremonies  in  the  derelict  basilica  of  St. 
Peter  there  had  been  small  time  for  preparation  and 
smaller  scope  for  splendour.  The  festivities  of  Holy 
Week  were  also  close  at  hand,  and  in  consequence  Leo 
was  forced  to  defer  the  elaborate  procession  and  act  of 
public  rejoicing  on  which  his  heart  was  set,  until  the 
occasion  of  his  formal  occupation  of  the  historic  church 
and  palace  of  the  Lateran.  The  date  of  this  impending 
event  therefore  the  Pope  fixed  not  without  secret  satis- 
faction for  nth  April,  the  first  anniversary  of  the  battle 
of  Ravenna,  which  had  seen  the  papal  army  scattered 
and  the  present  Pontiff  a  prisoner  of  the  French  King. 
This  decision  afforded  Leo  an  unique  opportunity  for 
indulging  in  his  inherited  taste  for  splendid  pageantry, 
since  not  only  had  he  the  overflowing  treasury  of  the 
thrifty  Julius  at  his  disposal,  but  likewise,  as  he  soon 
perceived,  the  Roman  court  and  the  Roman  people 
were  setting  to  work  with  feverish  activity  upon  pre- 
parations, which  were  destined  to  make  of  Leo's  triumphal 
progress  across  the  city  of  the  Caesars  and  the  Popes 
the  greatest  spectacle  of  pomp  and  beauty  which  even 
that  era  could  produce.  But  before  proceeding  to  de- 

1  Diary  of  Paris  de  Grassis,  Bossi-Roscoe,  lib.  iv.,  cap.  iv.,  p.  18. 


LEO  DECIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS  115 

scribe  in  detail  this  most  famous  pageant,  which  marks 
the  opening  of  the  Leonine  Age,  it  will  be  proper  for  us 
in  the  first  place  to  give  a  brief  description  of  the  Eternal 
City  as  it  appeared  in  the  year  that  witnessed  the  ele- 
vation of  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici  to  the  pontifical 
throne. 

If  the  Florence  of  our  own  days  has  preserved  intact 
no  small  portion  of  its  ancient  character,  the  Rome  of 
King  Victor-Emmanuel  owns  few  features  that  were 
prominent  within  its  walls  at  the  date  of  Leo's  election. 
Looking  down  from  the  carefully  tended  gardens  of  the 
Pincian  Hill  upon  the  city  spread  beneath  us,  we  can 
perceive  scarcely  a  single  object  which  must  have  been 
familiar  to  the  eyes  of  the  Medicean  Pope  nearly  four 
centuries  ago.  And  yet  within  the  memory  of  many 
persons  living  the  Eternal  City  has  undergone  an  almost 
complete  transformation  of  aspect,  for  the  Rome  of  Pius  IX. 
was  itself  a  totally  different  place  from  the  modern 
capital  of  United  Italy ;  so  many  an  ancient  landmark 
has  been  recently  swept  away,  so  many  obtruding  public 
edifices  have  arisen,  and  so  many  hundreds  of  brand-new 
streets  on  a  stereotyped  Parisian  model  have  been 
constructed  on  all  sides.  Rome,  like  a  palimpsest,  is 
perpetually  changing  her  character,  and  it  is  curious  to 
reflect  that  the  great  spreading  capital  of  to-day  could 
hardly  appear  less  strange  or  bewildering  to  the  con- 
temporaries of  Leo  X.  than  would  the  old  papal  seat  of 
Pio  Nono,  which  .so  many  still  love  to  recall  with  its 
stately  air  of  repose  and  its  picturesque  scenes  of  ecclesi- 
astical life.  Only  the  Pantheon  with  its  low  dome  and 
lofty  colonnade,  the  vast  circle  of  the  Colosseum  and 
certain  of  the  ruined  Therms  (and  these  not  a  little 
altered  or  curtailed)  survive  from  one  century  to  another, 
linking  the  Rome  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  Rome  of  the 


n6  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

sovereign  Pontiffs  and  the  Rome  of  the  Italian  Kings 
with  the  imperial  city  of  Augustus  and  the  Antonines. 

A  very  small  portion  of  the  immense  area  enclosed 
by  the  irregular  ring  of  mouldering  walls  was  occupied 
by  houses  in  the  year  1513,  the  remainder  being  covered 
with  vineyards,  gardens,  groves  and  even  with  thickets 
of  brier  and  myrtle,  so  dense  that  deer  and  wild  boar 
occasionally  sought  shelter  within  their  recesses.  Out 
of  this  bosky  expanse  peeped  forth  at  various  points  the 
forms  of  ancient  churches  with  delicate  arched  campanili 
of  red  brick  beside  them ;  whilst  here  and  there  were 
conspicuous  huge  masses  of  tawny  ruins  draped  with  ivy 
or  eglantine  that  harboured  myriads  of  pigeons,  which 
the  sportsmen  of  the  city  would  sometimes  shoot  or 
snare  in  idle  hours.  The  classic  Forum,  known  by 
the  humble  appellation  of  the  Cattle  Market  (Campo 
Vacchino)  ;  stretched  as  a  long  marshy  scrub-covered 
expanse,  wherein  a  few  shafts  of  antique  temples  still 
rose  aloft,  but  the  Via  Sacra  and  the  foundations  mark- 
ing the  heart  of  the  proud  city  lay  hidden  beneath  a 
crust,  some  thirty  feet  in  depth,  of  superincumbent  soil 
and  rubbish.  Beyond  the  utter  desolation  of  the  Roman 
Forum  towered  the  gigantic  bulk  of  the  Flavian  Amphi- 
theatre, inexpressibly  grand  in  its  lonely  magnificence 
and  with  its  fabric  practically  intact,  for  the  evil  days  of 
Roman  vandalism  had  scarcely  begun  in  earnest.  The 
Palatine,  the  Coelian  and  the  Aventine  were  but  wooded 
hills,  dotted 'with  a  few  farms  and  convents,  or  with  de- 
cayed heaps  of  ancient  buildings,  which  were  now  form- 
ing convenient  quarries  for  the  architects  of  the  new 
palaces  and  churches  springing  up  on  all  sides.  The 
Capitol  itself  with  its  tall  towers  and  forked  battlements 
resting  on  the  Titanic  sub-structures  of  antiquity  still 
retained  the  aspect  of  a  mediaeval  fortress  which  had 


LEO  DECIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS  117 

been  bestowed  upon  it  two  centuries  before  by  Boniface 
VIII.,  but  the  Tarpeian  Rock  beside  it  was  but  a  barren 
cliff,  as  its  local  name  of  Monte  Caprino — the  Goat's 
Hill — implied.  The  population  of  Rome,  computed 
at  various  figures  but  probably  numbering  about  60,000 
souls,  was  chiefly  huddled  into  the  narrow  space  lying 
between  the  Capitol  and  the  Tiber  and  into  the  trans- 
pontine quarter  of  Trastevere,  the  denizens  of  which 
have  always  affected  to  boast  a  pure  descent  from  the 
ancient  Romans  themselves — gli  Romani  di  Roma. 
These  two  districts  together  constituted  the  mediseval 
town,  which  was  still  a  maze  of  dark  filthy  alleys,  inter- 
spersed by  churches  or  palaces.  Around  the  Vatican 
itself  was  rising  a  new  and  splendid  quarter  of  the  city, 
with  residences  for  the  princes  of  the  Church  or  for  the 
numerous  envoys  to  the  papal  court,  but  in  the  main 
Rome  still  kept  its  mean  appearance  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  older  houses,  many  of  them  overhanging  the 
muddy  Tiber  and  often  entered  by  means  of  boats, 
were  mostly  distinguished  by  exterior  stairways  and 
by  tall  stone  turrets,  of  which  a  few  specimens  survive 
to-day.  On  all  sides  the  fortified  ruins,  including  the 
arches  of  Constantine,  Titus  and  Severus,  bore  ample 
testimony  to  the  unsettled  and  lawless  conditions  of  the 
past,  and  to  the  old-time  feuds  of  Orsini  and  Colonna, 
of  Frangipani  and  Gaetani. 

Standing  on  the  Pincio,  then  clothed  with  vines  and 
olives,  the  stranger  would  at  once  become  aware  of  the 
absence  of  that  world-famous  group  of  buildings,  which 
constitutes  the  most  prominent  object  in  Papal  Rome. 
In  the  room  of  the  great  domed  church  and  the  far- 
spreading  courts  of  the  modern  Vatican,  there  uprose  to 
view  only  the  fagade  of  old  St.  Peter's,  and  beside  it 
the  tall  form  of  the  Sistine  chapel  and  the  Torre  Borgia, 


n8  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

for  Alexander  VI.  had  embellished  the  papal  residence, 
and  had  strengthened  the  neighbouring  Castle  of  Sant' 
Angelo,1  which  he  had  joined  to  the  Vatican  itself  by 
means  of  a  stone  gallery  of  communication,  that  was 
doomed  to  play  a  conspicuous  part  on  more  than  one 
occasion  in  the  later  annals  of  the  secular  Papacy.  But 
the  glittering  exterior  of  the  venerable  basilica  merely 
masked  what  was  in  reality  a  naked  ruin,  whilst  the 
completed  portion  of  the  palace  was  surrounded  by  a 
trampled  wilderness  littered  with  hewn  and  unhewn 
blocks  of  stone  or  marble,  and  with  fine  antique  columns 
pilfered  from  the  pagan  fanes  :  evidences  of  the  late 
Pontiffs  work  of  demolition  and  his  earnest  desire  to 
erect  a  Christian  temple,  or  rather  a  mausoleum  for 
himself,  which  should  exceed  in  size  and  splendour  every 
structure  the  world  had  hitherto  beheld.  At  the  extreme 
point  east  of  St.  Peter's  within  the  circumference  of  the 
city  walls,  rose  the  second  papal  palace  and  the  vast 
church  of  St.  John's  Lateran,  the  true  cathedral  of 
Rome,  "the  mother  and  head  of  all  churches  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,"  with  the  famous  Baptistery  beside  it, 
wherein  the  Emperor  Constantine  had  been  made  a 
Christian  by  Pope  Sylvester.  Once  the  seat  of  power 
and  magnificence  under  such  Pontiffs  as  Innocent  III. 
and  Urban  IV.,  the  Lateran  had  long  been  abandoned 
as  a  residence  by  their  successors,  who  now  only  cared 
to  concentrate  their  energy  and  expend  their  wealth 
upon  the  rival  palace  across  the  Tiber.  Yet  the 
neglected  Lateran  still  owned  a  special  sanctity  and  im- 
portance, so  that  a  new  Pope's  formal  procession  thither 

1  The  Municipality  of  Rome — whether  in  a  fit  of  moral  zeal  or 
of  childish  vandalism,  we  leave  the  reader  to  decide — has  recently 
effaced  all  their  heraldic  bearings  from  the  escutcheons  of  the  Borgia 
Pope  on  the  face  of  the  Castle  of  Sant'  Angelo. 


LEO  DECIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS  119 

was  always  made  the  occasion  for  a  solemn  display  of 
pontifical  majesty.  At  this  particular  moment  also  an 
additional  interest  was  afforded  by  the  circumstance 
that  the  council,  recently  convoked  by  Julius  and  re- 
garded with  so  many  brave  hopes  by  the  would-be 
reformers  of  the  Church,  was  now  holding  its  sittings 
within  these  very  walls,  so  that  Leo's  coming  visit 
possessed  even  more  significance  in  men's  minds  than 
was  usually  attached  to  this  papal  ceremony  of  the 
Sacro  Possesso,  or  formal  entry  into  the  Lateran. 

It  was  in  truth  a  brilliant  opening  to  the  Leonine 
Age,  which  was  fated  to  prevail  in  Rome  for  fourteen 
years  with  one  short  interval,  and  when  we  contrast  the 
scenes  of  popular  delight  and  extravagance  of  1513  with 
the  awful  yet  inevitable  catastrophe  of  1527,  we  grow  to 
comprehend  dimly  the  close  connection  between  the 
golden  days  of  Leo's  reign  and  the  period  of  shame  and 
outrage  which  was  to  terminate  that  glorious  epoch  under 
the  unhappy  Clement.  Yet  no  sadness  of  impending 
disaster,  no  premonition  of  future  destruction  hung  over 
the  expectant  city  or  the  genial  Pope,  who  ever  since 
his  coronation  had  been  taking  an  almost  child-like 
interest  in  every  detail  of  the  projected  pageant,  which 
the  anxious  Paris  de  Grassis  was  superintending.  At 
length  the  desired  morning  broke,  warm,  sunny  and 
balmy,  as  only  a  Roman  spring-tide  can  produce,  an 
ideal  day  for  an  open-air  festival,  of  which  the  pro- 
gramme was  arranged  and  developed  on  so  grandiose  a 
scale  "  that  this  spectacular  representation  of  the  secular 
Papacy  in  1513  has  afforded  us  also  the  most  perfect 
picture  of  its  established  splendour".1  And  a  truly 
marvellous  sight  did  the  Eternal  City  present  on  this 

1  F.  Gregorovius,  vol.  vii. 


120  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

occasion,  with  every  house  on  the  line  of  procession 
decked  with  wreaths  of  laurel  and  ilex,  and  with  every 
casement  displaying  rich  brocades  or  velvets  of  all  shades 
of  colour,  arranged  with  an  exquisite  taste  for  general 
effect.  Triumphal  arches,  many  of  them  real  works  of 
art  in  themselves  and  the  invention  of  the  leading 
painters  and  architects  in  Rome,  had  been  erected  to 
span  the  streets  at  various  points,  for  the  wealthy 
merchants,  headed  by  the  famous  Sienese  banker, 
Agostino  Chigi,  were  all  vying  to  attract  the  notice  and 
win  the  praise  of  their  new  ruler.  Priceless  antique 
statues  of  the  pagan  gods  and  goddesses,  the  prized 
treasures  of  many  a  choice  collection,  had  been  set  in 
niches  of  these  arches,  often  in  incongruous  proximity  to 
the  effigies  of  Christian  martyrs  or  divinities,  amongst 
whom  the  favourite  Medicean  saints,  St.  John  the 
Baptist,  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Arab  physicians  Cosmo 
and  Damiano  naturally  appeared  conspicuous.  On  all 
sides  were  to  be  observed  inscriptions,  mostly  in  Latin, 
applauding  the  new  Pontiff  and  calling  down  blessing  on 
his  head  ;  and  fulsome  as  were  many  of  these  eulogies, 
yet  there  can  be  no  question  but  that  the  city  of  Rome 
was  as  delighted  with  Leo  at  this  early  period,  as  the 
Pope  himself  was  overjoyed  at  the  display  of  all  this 
adulation  and  festal  magnificence.  Of  the  numerous 
arches,  trophies  and  obelisks,  most  people  adjudged  the 
palm  of  merit  to  that  reared  by  Agostino  Chigi,  whose 
vast  income  seemed  to  place  him  at  an  advantage  over 
other  private  persons.  A  wholly  unconscious  critic  of 
his  own  times,  Chigi  had  likewise  placed  in  letters  of 
gold  upon  the  frieze  of  his  eight-columned  arch  an  elegiac 
couplet,  comparing  the  coming  reign  of  the  Medicean 
Pontiff  to  that  of  Minerva,  and  naming  Leo's  two  pre- 
decessors as  votaries  respectively  of  Venus  and  Mars  :— 


LEO  DECIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS  121 

Olim  habuit  Cypris  sua  tempora ;  tempora  Mavors 
Olim  habuit ;  sua  nunc  tempora  Pallas  habet.1 

To  counterbalance  Chigi's  prophecy  of  this  approaching 
intellectual  millenium,  the  goldsmith  Antonio  da  San 
Marco  had  either  by  accident  or  design  inscribed  below 
a  statue  of  Aphrodite,  an  exquisite  production  of  some 
Grecian  chisel  with  which  he  had  adorned  his  trophy,  a 
solitary  pentameter,  that  must  have  greatly  tickled  Leo's 
exuberant  sense  of  humour:  — 

Mars  fuit ;  est  Pallas ;  Cypria  semper  ero.2 

Many  were  the  flattering  sentiments  conveyed  thus 
to  the  first  Medicean  Pope,  and  many  were  the  anxious 
hopes  expressed  for  a  coming  period  of  peace  and  pro- 
sperity.— "  Live  according  to  your  established  piety  !  O 
live  for  ever,  according  to  your  deserts ! "  announced 
another  of  these  inscriptions ;  whilst  on  Cardinal  Sauli's 
portico  were  to  be  seen  verses  alluding  to  the  Pontiffs 
supposed  horror  of  the  bloodshed  wherewith  the  late 
reign  had  been  so  disgracefully  stained  : — 

Non  de  coesorum  numero  fusoque  cruore, 
Sed  de  sperata  pace  trophaea  damus.3 

The  entrance  to  the  Capitol  bore  a  motto  with  a  deeper 
and  more  spiritual  meaning:— 

Genus  humanum  mortuos  parit,  quos  Ecclesia  vivificat ; 

which  served  to  remind  the  fortunate  Medici  of  the 
boundless  powers  conferred  by  the  great  Apostle  of  the 
gold  and  silver  keys  upon  all  his  successors.  Another 
arch,  reared  by  the  delighted  Florentine  residents  of 

1  Venus  has  fled,  and  now  the  War-God's  arms 

At  last  have  yielded  to  Minerva's  charms. 

2  Mars  is  fled,  and  Pallas  reigns, 

Yet  Venus  still  our  queen  remains  ! 

3  Not  for  slain  victims  nor  for  shedding  blood 

We  rear  these  trophies,  but  for  future  peace. 


122  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Rome  in  grateful  honour  of  their  illustrious  countryman, 
was  distinguished  by  a  medley  of   Medicean  emblems 
and  heraldic  devices — the  ring  and  ostrich  plumes  of  the 
Magnificent  Lorenzo,  the  ox-yoke  of  the  reigning  Pontiff, 
the  burning  branch    of  the   youthful  heir  of   Piero  de' 
Medici  and  the  diamond  of  Giuliano,  whilst  the  address 
upon  its  architrave  recorded  the  respectful  homage  of 
his   fellow-citizens    to    "the   Ambassador  of   Heaven". 
In  addition  to  these  triumphal  erections,  the  streets  had 
been  strewn  with  sprigs  of  box  and  myrtle ;  improvised 
altars  had  been  set  up  at  several  corners,  and  every  door- 
way was  festooned  with  verdant  wreaths.     The  populace 
was  wearing  festal  attire,  and  in  sign  of  the  general  quiet 
and  sense  of  security  all  private  persons  were  forbidden 
to  wear  swords.     Some  of  the  public  fountains  had  been 
made  to  run  with  wine  instead  of  water,  and  the  whole 
city  prepared  itself  to  enjoy  the  coming  procession  with 
a  zest  and  good-humour  that  had  ever  been  denied  to 
the  late  Pope's  set  triumphs  after  his  vigorous  campaigns. 
First  to  quit  the  broad  piazza   before  the  Vatican, 
where  the  huge  train  was  being  marshalled,  were  the 
men-at-arms  followed  by  the  households  of  the  cardinals 
and  prelates  of  the  court,  all  richly  clad  in  scarlet.     These 
were  succeeded  by  a  number  of  standard-bearers,  in- 
cluding the  captains  of  the  Rioni,  or  historic  divisions  of 
Rome,  and  after  them  thundered  the  cavalcade  of  the 
five  Gonfalonieri,  wielders  of  the  more  important  banners 
connected   with    the    Holy    See,    conspicuous   in    their 
number  being  Giulio  de'  Medici  in  the  robes  and  insignia 
of  a  knight  of  Rhodes.      Behind  this  group  of  horsemen 
with   their  fluttering  ensigns  was  led  a  string  of  milk- 
white  mules  from  the  papal  stables,  housed  in  gorgeous 
trappings,  whilst  behind  them  walked  over  one  hundred 
equerries  of  the  court,  all  of  noble  birth  and  clad  in  gala 


LEO  DECIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS  123 

robes  of  red  fringed  with  ermine,  the  hindmost  four  bearing 
the  papal  crowns  and  jewelled  mitres  upon  short  staves 
of  office.  These  gave  place  to  a  second  cavalcade  com- 
posed of  a  hundred  Roman  barons  with  historic  names, 
each  noble  being  followed  by  an  armed  escort  of  servants 
dressed  in  their  master's  livery,  prominent  amongst  them 
being  Fabrizio  Colonna  and  Giulio  Orsini,  who  rode 
side  by  side  with  clasped  hands  in  sign  of  present  amity 
and  of  past  discord.  The  notables  of  Rome  were  in  their 
turn  succeeded  by  a  company  of  the  chief  citizens  of 
Florence — Tornabuoni,  Salviati,  Ridolfi,  Pucci,  Strozzi 
and  the  like — many  of  them  being  related  to  the  Su- 
preme Pontiff,  in  whose  honour  all  this  elaborate  pageant 
had  been  planned.  Amidst  the  gay  trains  of  the  Italian 
and  foreign  ambassadors,  pursuing  on  the  heels  of  the 
Florentine  merchant-princes,  appeared  the  form  and  re- 
tinue of  the  late  Pope's  nephew,  Francesco  Delia  Rovere, 
Duke  of  Urbino,  all  decorously  apparelled  in  deep 
mourning  and  making  thereby  a  curious  streak  of  sable 
amidst  the  glowing  uniforms  around  them.  The  laity 
having  all  passed,  the  clergy  now  made  their  appearance 
in  due  order,  escorted  by  a  host  of  sacristans  and  pages 
in  crimson  velvet  with  silver  wands,  some  of  whom 
directed  the  paces  of  the  palfrey  that  bore  on  its  back  the 
Sacrament  in  a  glittering  monstrance,  above  which  Roman 
citizens  upheld  a  canopy  of  cloth -of-gold.  Hundreds  of 
priests,  lawyers  and  clerks  in  flowing  robes  of  scarlet, 
black  or  violet  next  passed  in  review,  preparing  the  way 
for  the  bishops  and  abbots  to  the  number  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty,  after  whom  advanced  the  cardinals,  each  prince 
of  the  Church  bestriding  a  beautiful  steed  with  trailing 
white  draperies  and  each  supported  by  eight  chamber- 
lains. At  the  head  of  the  Sacred  College  ambled  the 
handsome  and  haughty  Alfonso  Petrucci,  Cardinal  of 


i24  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Siena,  little  dreaming  in  his  youthful  pride  of  the  ignomi- 
nious fate  lying  in  store  for  him  at  no  distant  date  ;  whilst 
beside  the  last  cardinal  rode  the  bluff  Alfonso  d'  Este, 
Duke  of  Ferrara,  husband  of  Lucrezia  Borgia  and  the 
undaunted  opponent  of  the  terrible  Julius,  but  now 
obviously  an  eager  suppliant  for  the  good  graces  of  his 
successor.  Behind  the  cardinals  and  their  equipages 
walked  discreetly  the  Conservators  of  Rome,  humble 
representatives  of  the  ancient  senators  of  the  former 
Mistress  of  the  World,  and  close  upon  their  footsteps 
tramped  Julius'  Swiss  body-guard,1  two  hundred  strong, 
a  corps  of  picked  mountaineers  armed  with  halberds  and 
clothed  in  parti-coloured  uniforms  of  green,  white  and 
yellow.  Last  of  all  rode  the  Supreme  Pontiff  himself, 
the  author  and  object  of  all  this  magnificence,  mounted 
on  the  white  Arab  stallion  he  had  ridden  on  the  fatal 
field  of  Ravenna,  which  until  its  death  was  always  re- 
garded by  its  owner  with  a  degree  of  affection  almost 
amounting  to  superstitious  awe.2  Draped  in  snowy 
housings,  the  beautiful  creature,  after  its  paces  were 
first  tried  by  the  haughty  Duke  of  Ferrara  in  person,  had 
been  led  by  the  Duke  of  Urbino,  as  Prefect  of  Rome, 
to  the  fountain  in  the  centre  of  the  space  before  St.  Peter's, 
where  His  Holiness  with  the  assistance  of  his  nephew 
Lorenzo  de'  Medici  was  adroitly  lifted  into  the  saddle. 
Above  horse  and  rider  eight  Roman  citizens  of  patrician 
rank  bore  aloft  a  baldacchino  or  canopy  of  embroidered 
silk  in  order  to  shield  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  from  the 
envious  rays  of  the  Sun-God,  with  whom  not  a  few  poets 
and  courtiers  were  already  beginning  to  compare  the 

1  The  present  uniform  of  the  Swiss  Guard  at  the  Vatican — said  on 
doubtful  authority  to  have  been  designed  by  Michelangelo — is  com- 
posed of  stripes  in  equal  parts  of  red,  yellow  and  black. 

2  Jovius,  lib.  iii. 


LEO   X    RIDING    IX    STATK 


LEO  DECIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS  125 

fortunate,  the  resplendent  Leo  X.  Sinking  beneath  the 
weight  of  triple  tiara  and  of  jewelled  cope,  the  Pontiff 
was  nevertheless  sustained  throughout  the  tedious  length 
of  his  public  progress  across  the  city  by  the  deep  sense 
of  exalted  satisfaction,  that  was  reflected  in  his  broad 
purple  face,  from  which  the  perspiration  ran  in  streams 
as  the  result  of  the  unusual  exertion  beneath  a  hot  April 
sun.  With  hands  in  perfumed  gloves  sewn  with  pearls, 
the  Pontiff  continued  to  bestow  blessings  at  regular  inter- 
vals to  the  cheering  crowds,  which  perhaps  appreciated 
even  more  than  the  papal  benedictions  the  silver  coins 
flung  ceaselessly  by  a  pair  of  chamberlains,  who  carried 
well-filled  money-bags.  Led  on  his  favourite  white 
steed,  with  dukes  and  nobles  beside  him  esteeming  it  a 
privilege  to  touch  his  bridle,  Leo  proceeded  slowly  in  an 
ecstacy  of  gratified  pride  from  the  piazza  of  St.  Peter's 
towards  the  bridge  of  Sant'  Angelo.  At  this  point, 
according  to  the  usual  custom,  the  Jews  of  Rome  were 
assembled  in  order  to  request  in  all  humility  the  per- 
mission to  reside  in  the  Holy  City  and  also  to  present  a 
copy  of  the  Law  ;  and  as  the  gorgeous  figure  in  shining 
crown  and  robes  approached,  the  rabbi  meekly  stepped 
forward  to  give  the  prescribed  greeting  and  to  offer  the 
volume.  "We  confirm  your  privileges, "  replied  the  Pope, 
opening  the  proffered  scroll,  "but  we  reject  your  faith  !  " 
(Confirmamus  sed  non  consentimus!)  and  then  allowed 
the  book  of  the  Law  to  fall  like  an  accursed  thing  to  the 
ground. 

Turning  aside  gladly  from  the  group  of  supplicating 
Hebrews,  Leo  continued  his  course  towards  the  Lateran 
along  the  historic  Via  Papale,  the  Pope's  Way,  doling 
out  largesse  and  giving  endless  benisons,  whilst  the  whole 
air  rung  with  prolonged  cries  of  Leone  !  Leone  !  Palle  ! 
Palle  !  From  time  to  time  the  Pope's  features  were 


126  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

seen  to  relax  into  a  broad  smile,  as  his  attendants  ex- 
plained to  him  the  gist  of  certain  of  the  welcoming  in- 
scriptions, which  his  purblind  eyes  could  not  decipher ; 
and  fatiguing  though  this  prolonged  ceremonial  must 
have  been  to  one  in  Leo's  indifferent  state  of  health,  yet 
the  distance  between  St.  Peter's  and  the  Lateran  did 
not  appear  too  lengthy  to  the  admiring  and  admired 
Pontiff,  who  was  thus  taking  his  fill  of  all  the  pomps  and 
vanities  of  his  age  in  their  most  entrancing  form,  and 
tasting  that  sweet  but  seductive  draught  of  popular 
adulation  which  has  affected  many  a  strong  brain. 

Arrived  before  the  pile  of  the  Lateran,  the  Pope  dis- 
mounted beside  the  equestrian  statue  of  the  Emperor 
Marcus  Aurelius,  which  then  adorned  this  part  of  the  city.1 
Tired  physically  with  his  late  efforts  and  excitement  but 
still  unsated  with  the  homage  paid  him,  Leo  took  formal 
possession  of  that  ancient  seat  of  power,  which  was  so 
intimately  connected  with  the  deeds  of  many  illustrious 
predecessors.  After  the  due  performance  of  the  rites 
incidental  to  the  Sacro  Possesso,  there  followed  a  banquet 
in  the  great  hall  of  the  palace,  served  with  all  the  osten- 
tatious luxury  of  which  the  Italian  Renaissance  was 
capable.  The  meal  ended,  the  glittering  train  prepared 
to  start  homewards  in  the  glowing  atmosphere  of  an 
April  sunset.  More  shouts  of  applause,  more  benedic- 
tions, more  largesse  out  of  the  savings  of  the  frugal  Julius 
flung  to  the  expectant  rabble,  yet  when  the  gloaming 
fell  upon  the  scene  and  began  to  dim  the  brilliant  hues  of 
the  vestments  and  uniforms,  the  long  papal  procession 
had  scarcely  reached  the  Campo  de'  Fiori.  Torches  and 

1  This  famous  statue  now  occupies  the  most  prominent  position 
on  the  Roman  Capitol,  whither  it  was  moved  by  Michelangelo  under 
Paul  III.,  not  without  opposition  from  its  owners,  the  canons  of  the 
Lateran. 


LEO  DECIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS  127 

tapers  now  began  to  twinkle  in  every  window  of  the  city, 
eclipsing  the  starlight  of  the  spring  evening,  and  pro- 
ducing a  weird  but  lovely  effect  upon  the  returning 
cavalcade.  At  last  even  Leo  had  grown  exhausted,  so 
that  on  reaching  the  gateway  of  the  castle  of  Sant' 
Angelo,  whose  vast  circular  form  loomed  out  black  and 
distinct  against  the  star-lit  sky,  he  dismounted  to  enter 
the  castle  portals  as  the  guest  of  young  Alfonso  Petrucci, 
who  was  doomed  four  years  later  to  be  strangled  by  his 
affectionate  host's  command  in  a  noisome  vault  below  the 
gilded  and  painted  chamber  wherein  he  was  now  enter- 
taining his  master.  "In  thinking  over  all  the  pomp  and 
lofty  magnificence  I  had  just  witnessed,"  naively  records 
the  simple  Florentine  physician  Gian-Giacomo  Penni  in 
his  lengthy  account  of  the  ceremony  which  he  had  evi- 
dently watched  with  envious  eyes,  "  I  experienced  so 
violent  a  desire  to  become  Pope  myself,  that  I  was  unable 
to  obtain  a  wink  of  sleep  or  any  repose  all  that  night. 
No  longer  do  I  marvel  at  these  prelates  desiring  so 
ardently  to  procure  this  dignity,  and  I  verily  believe 
every  lacquey  would  sooner  be  made  a  Pope  than  a 
Prince ! " l 

Thus  terminated  the  supreme  pageant  that  marked 
the  happy  accession  of  the  first  Medicean  Pontiff  and  in- 
augurated with  such  a  burst  of  splendour  those  golden 
days  of  culture  and  patronage,  of  license  and  extrava- 
gance, to  which  in  after  years  the  poets  and  scholars,  who 
had  participated  in  their  delights,  were  wont  to  refer  with 
affectionate  regret;  even  exaggerating  the  bountiful 

1  The  chief  account  of  the  Sacro  Possesso  of  Leo  X.  is  derived 
from  this  letter  of  Gian-Giacomo  Penni,  directed  to  Contessina 
Ridolfi,  the  Pope's  sister,  in  Florence.  Chronicha  delle  magnifiche  et 
honor  ate  pompe  fatte  in  Roma  per  la  creatione  et  incoronatione  di  Papa 
Leone  X.  (Bossi-Roscoe,  lib.  v.,  pp.  189-231).  For  another  and 
shorter  account,  see  Aless.  Luzio,  Appendix,  Doc.  2. 


i28  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

condescension  bestowed  upon  arts  and  letters  by  this 
Papal  Maecenas,  to  those  less  fortunate  aspirants  to  fame 
and  fortune,  who  had  never  tasted  the  joys  of  the  Eternal 
City  during  the  all-too-rapid  passing  of  the  Leonine 
Age. 


CHAPTER  VI 
MEDICEAN  AMBITION 

Cette  grande  force  de  Frangois  ler  n'etait  pas  seulement  de  cir- 
constance  et  de  situation ;  elle  etait  aussi  personelle.  Tout  reussit  a 
la  jeunesse,  tout  lui  sourit.  .  .  .  Ni  Charles  VIII. ,  ni  Louis  XII.,  les 
sauveurs  predits  par  Savonarola,  n'avaient  repondu  aux  exigences  de 
1'imagination  populaire ;  Tun  petit,  mal  bad,  difforme  par  sa  grosse 
tete ;  1'autre  cacochyme,  bourgeois,  Roi  des  bourgeois.  Celui-ci  au 
contraire,  beau  de  race,  de  fleur  de  jeunesse,  plus  beau  de  sa  victoire, 
trouvant  pour  tous  par  sa  langue  facile  des  mots  de  grace  et  d'esper- 
ance,  n'etait  il  pas  enfin,  pour  1'Italie  et  pour  le  monde,  ce  Messie 
pro  mis,  attendu  ?  (J.  Michelet,  La  Renaissance). 

SPECULATION  was  rife  throughout  Europe  as 
to  the  public  policy  the  first  Medicean  Pope  was 
likely  to  pursue,  although  it  was  no  difficult  matter 
for  such  as  had  followed  his  past  career  as  a  Cardinal 
under  Julius  II.  to  make  a  shrewd  guess  at  Leo's  probable 
attitude  towards  the  movements  and  questions  of  the  day, 
both  domestic  and  foreign.  That  he  had  a  strong  per- 
sonal dislike  to  France  would  be  a  natural  conclusion  of 
such  observers,  seeing  that  the  French  King  had  sup- 
ported the  late  Florentine  Republic,  and  that  Leo  himself 
only  a  year  before  had  endured  in  the  French  camp  some 
months  of  captivity,  which  had  not  been  wholly  without 
discomfort  and  indignity.  On  the  other  hand,  Leo  had 
every  reason  to  favour  the  Spaniards,  whose  lances  had 
helped  him  to  win  back  his  native  city  for  himself  and 
the  Medici.  His  late  remarkable  display  of  clemency  in 
Florence  led  men  to  expect  a  Pontiff  averse  to  war  and 
9  129 


1 30  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

strife  ;  his  moral  reputation  aroused  the  high  hopes  of  all 
those  who  were  anxious  to  reform  and  purify  the  Church  ; 
his  affability  invited  men  to  look  for  a  ruler  more  reason- 
able and  kindly  than  Julius  ;  whilst  his  manifest  devotion 
to  literature  provoked  the  Humanists  to  prepare  for  a  re- 
turn of  the  ofolden  age  of  Roman  letters  under  Augustus, 

o  o  o 

and  to  find  in  Leo  X.  a  veritable  Papal  Maecenas  and  a 
perfect  patron. 

"It  is  my  opinion,"  so  writes  Count  Alberto  Pio  to 
his  master  the  Emperor,  "  that  the  Pontiff  will  be  gentle 
(mitis]  as  a  lamb  rather  than  fierce  as  a  lion.  He  will 
cultivate  peace  and  not  war.  He  will  observe  all  his 
vows  and  engagements  most  scrupulously.  He  will  cer- 
tainly be  no  friend  to  the  French,  yet  on  the  other  hand 
he  will  not  prove  himself  their  implacable  foe,  like  Julius. 
He  dreams  of  honour  and  glory.  He  will  patronise  men 
of  letters,  at  least  improwisatori,  poets  and  musicians. 
He  will  erect  palaces.  He  will  perform  with  care  the 
sacred  offices,  and  will  not  neglect  any  ecclesiastical  duty. 
He  will  not  rush  into  any  war,  except  a  crusade  against 
the  Turks,  unless  much  provoked  or  absolutely  compelled 
thereto.  He  will  try  to  finish  whatsoever  he  has  under- 
taken. He  will  be  unassuming  in  manner,  and  easily 
prevailed  on.  These  are  my  prognostications  concern- 
ing Leo,  but  men  change  from  hour  to  hour,  and  the 
Divine  power  often  plays  tricks  with  our  human  calcula- 
tions." 

Although  Pio's  general  estimate  of  character  and  fore- 
cast of  Leo's  policy  sound  fairly  accurate,  yet  in  the  letter 
just  quoted  the  writer  evidently  does  not  lay  sufficient 
stress  on  the  new  Pontiff's  overweening  but  carefully  hidden 
ambition,  the  existence  of  which  was  little  suspected  by 
the  world  at  large,  or  even  by  his  own  intimates  who  had 

1Roscoe,  vol.  i.,  p.  352,  note  13. 


MEDICEAN  AMBITION  131 

elected  him  Pope.  As  the  son  of  a  ruler  who  had  pur- 
posely instilled  into  his  children's  minds  his  own  principles 
of  statecraft  from  their  earliest  years,  Leo  possessed  ad- 
vantages above  most  of  his  predecessors  in  that  he  had 
been  familiar  from  a  tender  age  with  the  subtle  methods 
of  a  tyranny  which  concealed  the  most  selfish  aims  under 
a  beneficent  guise.  During  the  years  of  ignominious  exile 
under  Alexander  VI.  and  of  hard  service  under  Julius  II. 
the  Cardinal  de'  Medici  had  been  digesting  the  paternal 
advice  he  had  received  in  his  youth,  whilst  his  late  ex- 
periences of  poverty  and  insignificance  had  only  served 
to  whet  his  natural  appetite  for  pomp  and  power. 
Throughout  this  period  of  nearly  twenty  years  he  had 
found  ample  opportunity  for  the  cultivation  of  those  arts 
of  dissimulation,  whereof  his  father  was  acknowledged  so 
able  an  exponent,  and  of  which  Leo  himself  was  destined 
to  become  a  yet  more  perfect  master.  As  the  Magnifi- 
cent Lorenzo  had  ever  masked  the  machinery  of  his  re- 
lentless tyranny  by  genial  manners  and  by  a  wise  rejec- 
tion of  all  the  outward  attributes  of  majesty,  so  Giovanni 
de'  Medici  had  learned  to  hide  his  most  cherished  schemes 
in  the  event  of  future  success  under  an  aspect  of  careless 
gaiety,  and  even  of  idleness.  But  at  last  the  wheel  of 
Fortune  had  turned ;  at  last  the  hour  for  putting  into 
practice  the  theories  privately  formulated  in  past  years 
had  arrived.  In  the  spring  of  1512  we  find  Giovanni 
de'  Medici  poor,  an  exile  and  even  a  prisoner  ;  twelve 
months  later  he  is  Supreme  Pontiff  with  boundless  wealth 
and  undisputed  master  once  more  of  the  city  of  his 
ancestors. 

As  scion  of  a  ruling  house  which  had  held  in  kindly 
but  undoubted  thraldom  for  four  generations  one  of  the 
richest  states  of  Italy,  the  new  Pope's  position  was  far 
superior  to  that  of  a  plebeian  Delia  Rovere,  desiring 


i32  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

only  the  glory  of  the  States  of  the  Church,  of  which  he 
had  been  elected  ruler  for  life  ;  still  less  was  it  compar- 
able with  the  newly  acquired  sovereignty  of  an  aristo- 
cratic adventurer  like  the  Borgia,  who  had  endeavoured 
to  utilise  the  Papacy  as  a  means  of  founding  in  Italy  a 
new  reigning  dynasty.  Nevertheless,  Leo  X.  had  un- 
doubtedly absorbed  not  a  little  of  the  polity  of  both  his 
predecessors,  for  from  Julius  he  obtained  the  grandiose 
idea  of  freeing  Italy  from  the  presence  of  the  foreigner, 
whilst  Alexander's  open  intention  to  weld  Central  Italy 
into  one  important  state  strongly  appealed  to  the  personal 
ambition  of  the  Medici.  In  Italian  politics  therefore 
Leo  X.,  following  the  more  private  aim  of  raising  his 
House  to  a  height  hitherto  undreamed  of,  had  set  his 
heart  upon  forming  the  duchies  of  Ferrara  and  Urbino 
together  with  the  towns  of  Parma,  Piacenza  and  Modena 
into  a  new  compact  realm,  of  which  the  papal  nephew 
or  brother  was  to  become  sovereign  under  Leo's  own 
guidance.  But  this  ambitious  attempt  to  create  a  brand- 
new  state  was  intended  only  as  a  step  towards  a  far 
wider  and  more  patriotic  policy.  The  French,  already 
discomfited  at  the  time  of  Leo's  election,  and  now  by 
the  recent  battle  of  Novara  driven  altogether  out  of  Italy, 
might  yet  in  course  of  time  be  made  useful  instruments 
for  expelling  the  victorious  Spanish  forces  from  the 
Milanese  and  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  It  was  in  truth 
a  dangerous  game,  this  proposed  setting  of  the  two  lead- 
ing European  powers  against  each  other  by  means  of  a 
delicate  but  unscrupulous  diplomacy,  which  was  based 
on  the  Pope's  fixed  intention  of  making  an  open  pact 
with  one  party  and  of  intriguing  with  the  other.  Indeed, 
Leo  X.  has  not  without  reason  been  credited  with  the 
invention  of  the  maxim  recommending  this  tortuous 
practice,  which  was  bound  to  produce  ultimate  disaster 


MEDICEAN  AMBITION  133 

for  its  followers ;  a  result  that  was  achieved,  not  indeed 
in  Leo's  reign,  but  in  that  of  his  successor  and  faithful 
pupil,  Pope  Clement  VII.  Julius  then  having  scattered 
the  French  by  means  of  the  Spaniards,  and  Leo  in  his 
turn  having  removed  the  conquering  Spanish  forces  by 
the  subsequent  aid  of  France,  it  was  secretly  hoped  that 
Italy  would  by  this  date  be  sufficiently  consolidated  to 
prevent  any  further  encroachment  from  either  nation ; 
and  thus  the  whole  country  would  be  definitely  and  for 
ever  relieved  of  the  presence  of  the  "barbarian,"  and 
the  House  of  Medici  with  Leo  at  its  head  would  become 
paramount  throughout  the  whole  peninsula.  With  all 
the  might  and  resources  of  Italy  concentrated  thus  in 
his  own  family  and  holding  the  keys  of  St.  Peter  in  his 
hands,  Leo  began  to  indulge  in  the  hope  of  being  able 
some  day  to  dictate  terms  to  princes  beyond  the  Alps, 
and  even  perhaps  to  bring  the  Empire  itself  beneath  the 
dominion  of  the  Church,  as  had  actually  come  to  pass  in 
the  reign  of  his  great  predecessor  and  fellow-countryman, 
the  monk  Hildebrand,  Pope  Gregory  VII.  Without 
stopping  to  criticise  this  attractive  conception  of  a  great 
Medicean  supremacy,  based  alike  on  secular  and  ecclesi- 
astical power,  or  to  expose  the  many  weak  places  in 
this  magnificent  fabric  of  future  policy,  we  must  acknow- 
ledge that  such  a  scheme  offered  a  singularly  brilliant 
and  alluring  prospect ;  and  that  it  was  not  altogether 
impossible  of  attainment  may  be  gathered  from  the 
views  and  suggestions  concerning  an  universal  Medicean 
despotism  in  Italy  set  forth  by  Machiavelli  in  the  pages 
of  the  Prince. 

It  was  Leo's  particular  opportunity  or  misfortune  that 
his  election  had  taken  place  at  a  most  critical  moment, 
when  Europe  was  not  only  affected  by  the  various  wars 
and  intrigues  of  her  rulers,  but  was  likely  to  be  still 


i34  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

further  disturbed  by  great  impending  changes  in  the  near 
future.  Henry  VII.  had  died  three  years  before  Leo's 
accession,  and  the  English  throne  was  now  occupied  by 
a  talented  but  restless  young  prince  ;  whilst  it  must  have 
appeared  evident  to  the  more  thoughtful  that  the  sickly 
Louis  XII.  of  France,  the  aged  Emperor  and  the  cunning 
old  Ferdinand  the  Catholic  of  Spain  must  ere  long  be 
replaced  in  the  course  of  nature  by  youthful  heirs.  It 
was  upon  the  young  princes  therefore  rather  than  upon 
the  old  and  passing  sovereigns  that  the  leading  states- 
men of  the  day  looked  with  feelings  of  anxiety  and  hope  ; 
their  attention  being  engrossed  by  a  contemplation  of 
the  youthful  Henry  Tudor,  of  the  stripling  cousin  of  the 
French  King,  and  more  particularly  of  the  Archduke 
Charles,  in  whom  a  disproportionate  amount  of  European 
sovereignty  seemed  likely  to  centre  at  no  distant  date. 
The  uncertainties  of  the  present  and  the  possibilities  of 
the  future  presented  therefore  a  wide  field  of  operations 
to  a  Pontiff,  who  was  eager  to  turn  every  combination 
and  every  chance  in  the  outside  world  to  the  immediate 
advantage  of  his  own  family  and  to  the  eventual  solidarity 
of  Italy  by  means  of  the  unique  powers  wherewith  he  had 
recently  been  invested.  "The  vigorous  policy  of  Julius 
II.,"  remarks  Bishop  Creighton,  "was  now  abandoned 
for  one  more  in  the  temper  of  the  age.  Leo  X.,  with  a 
genial  smile  upon  his  face,  pursued  his  ends  by  an  elabor- 
ate system  of  mine  and  countermine." 

In  accordance  with  this  deep-laid  plan  of  family 
aggrandisement,  which  during  the  next  six  years  gives 
the  key-note  to  all  his  policy  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
Leo's  first  step  was  to  create  the  easy-going  Giuliano 
de'  Medici  Gonfalionere  of  the  Church,  and  to  nominate 
his  young  nephew  Lorenzo  governor  of  Florence  in 

1  Creighton,  vol.  v.,  p.  229. 


MEDICEAN  AMBITION  135 

Giuliano's  stead.  For  the  education  and  guidance  of 
this  youth  of  twenty  summers  there  had  recently  been 
drawn  up  a  manual  of  statecraft,  based  on  the  well-known 
tenets  of  the  Magnificent  and  approved,  if  indeed  it  were 
not  actually  composed,  by  the  Pontiff  himself,  so  as  to 
teach  the  heir  of  the  family  all  the  devices  necessary  to 
the  proper  maintenance  of  a  Medicean  despotism  in  the 
city  without  offering  open  violence  to  the  old  republican 
forms.  Giuliano,  however,  the  Pope  evidently  pre- 
ferred to  keep  near  his  own  person  in  Rome,  partly  out 
of  the  genuine  affection  he  bore  to  his  younger  brother, 
but  partly  also,  perhaps,  because  he  had  good  reason  to 
fear  the  possible  effects  of  Giuliano's  liberal  views  and 
simple  nature  in  his  dealings  with  the  fickle  and  turbulent 
population  of  Florence.  At  the  suggestion  of  Leo  him- 
self the  city  of  Rome  now  proposed  to  do  honour  to  the 
Pope's  brother,  and  arrangements  on  a  most  lavish  scale 
were  made  to  promote  him  to  the  honorary  rank  of  a 
Roman  patrician  in  September,  1513.  For  this  purpose 
the  palace  of  the  Capitol  had  been  decorated  in  the  most 
elaborate  manner  with  a  series  of  pictures  designed  by 
Baldassare  Peruzzi,  who  had  therein  portrayed  numerous 
scenes  illustrating  the  historical  connection  between 
Ancient  Etruria  and  the  city  of  Rome.  The  whole 
ceremony,  which  had  been  planned  in  detail  by  Gian- 
Giorgio  Cesarini,  Gonfalionere  or  standard-bearer  of  the 
Roman  Senate  and  People,  included  a  procession  from 
the  Vatican  to  the  Capitol,  endless  addresses  of  welcome 
to  the  Medicean  prince  from  every  public  body  in  Rome, 
long-winded  Latin  orations  from  ambitious  poets,  and 
finally  a  banquet  of  barbaric  profusion  which  lasted  for 
six  hours.  The  feast  was  in  its  turn  succeeded  by  a 
pastoral  eclogue,  wherein  the  actors,  after  bestowing  the 
most  fulsome  praise  on  Leo,  did  not  scruple  to  poke  the 


136  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

broadest  fun  at  the  late  Pope's  foibles ;  a  piece  of  bad 
taste  which  convulsed  the  whole  audience  with  laughter. 
The  masque  was  followed  by  a  series  of  allegorical  scenes, 
including  one  in  which  a  beautiful  woman,  robed  in  cloth- 
of-gold  and  intended  to  personify  the  city  of  Rome,  was 
borne  on  the  shoulders  of  a  giant  to  Giuliano's  chair  to 
thank  him  for  the  gracious  condescension  wherewith  he 
had  accepted  the  late  homage  of  the  imperial  city.  After 
other  conceits  of  this  nature,  the  entertainment  was  made 
to  conclude  with  a  significant  representation  of  Florence 
weeping  for  the  loss  of  her  Medicean  progeny  and  being 
comforted  by  Cybele,  the  mother  of  all  the  gods,  who 
united  the  two  female  figures  of  Rome  and  Florence  and 
suggested  that  henceforth  both  cities  should  dwell  in 
mutual  concord  and  happiness  under  the  rule  of  that 
family,  which  loved  each  with  an  equal  devotion.  Next 
day  a  broad  Latin  comedy,  the  Poenulus  of  Plautus,  was 
presented  in  an  improvised  theatre  "with  such  elegance 
that  it  is  scarcely  credible  that  even  in  the  days  of 
Plautus  himself  his  play  could  have  been  performed 
better".1  In  grateful  appreciation  of  his  brother's  re- 
ception by  the  city,  the  Pontiff  granted  various  privi- 
leges, even  reducing  the  tax  upon  salt — always  a  most 
jealously-guarded  source  of  revenue  in  those  days, — whilst 
again  in  return  for  Leo's  generosity  the  citizens  of  Rome 
caused  a  marble  effigy  of  the  Pope,  the  work  of  Giacomo 
del  Duca,  one  of  Michelangelo's  pupils,  to  be  placed  upon 
the  Capitol  with  the  brief  laudatory  inscription,  Optimi 
Liberalissimique  Pontificis  Memoriae  S.P.Q.R? 

The  festivities  held  at  the  Capitol  in  honour  of  Giuli- 

1  Creighton,  vol.  v.,  pp.  226,  227.     Lanciani,  pp.  96-98.     L.  Pas- 
qualucci,    Giuliano   de     Medici    eletto  cittadino    Romano   in    1513 
(Roma,  1881). 

2  This  statue  of  Leo  X.,  a  very  feeble   work,  still  adorns  the 
palace  of  the  Conservatori  on  the  Capitol. 


MEDICEAN  AMBITION  137 

ano  de'  Medici  and  expressive  of  the  new  union  between 
Rome  and  Florence,  were  succeeded  two  months  later 
by  the  submission  of  the  French  King,  who  now  re- 
pudiated the  schismatic  Council,  that  had  given  so  much 
offence  to  the  autocratic  Julius.  Since  the  disaster  of 
Xovara,  Louis  had  lost  every  foothold  in  Northern  Italy, 
besides  being  crippled  by  the  defeat  of  Guinegatte.  or 
the  Battle  of  the  Spurs,  at  the  hands  of  the  united  English 
and  Imperial  forces  ;  whilst  the  hereditary  ally  of  France 
and  foe  of  England  had  recently  been  crushed  on  the 
fatal  held  of  Flodden  in  this  very  year.  Now  that  the 
humiliated  Frenchmen  had  been  expelled  from  Italian 
soil,  Leo  did  not  intend  to  pursue  them  with  the  unreason- 
ing rancour  of  his  fiery  predecessor ;  on  the  contrary, 
the  Pope  was  secretly  meditating  to  make  some  use  of 
the  defeated  nation  for  his  cherished  object  of  ridding 
Italy  equally  of  the  favoured  Spaniards.  Smooth  and 
pious  words  were  accordingly  addressed  to  the  hesitating 
Louis,  and  every  effort  was  made  to  clear  the  path  of 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  his  coming  submission.  The 
newly  restored  Maximilian  Sforza,  Duke  of  Milan,  was 
urged  to  treat  with  leniency  and  even  with  generosity 
those  of  his  subjects  who  had  accepted  the  late  French 
rule ;  the  E  mperor  was  admonished  likewise  on  the 
duties  of  mercy  and  forgiveness  in  a  Christian  prince ; 
and  even  in  his  congratulatory  letter  to  Henry  VIII.  on 
his  successful  repulse  at  Flodden  of  James  IV.  of  Scot- 
land, Leo  cannot  refrain  from  remarking  that  "it  was 
certainly  very  distressing  for  me  to  hear  of  so  much 
shedding  of  Christian  blood,  of  the  destruction  of  such 
numbers  of  those  who  are  dear  to  Our  Universal  Lord, 
and  especially  of  the  evil  fate  of  an  illustrious  and  valiant 
Christian  monarch,  the  husband  of  thine  own  sister".1 

is  X.  Ltttcrae,  Roscoe,  Appendix  XXVII. 


138  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

With  the  Pope  thus  posing  openly  as  a  public  peace- 
maker and  exhorting  the  sovereigns  of  Europe  to  acts 
of  Christian  charity  and  forgiveness  by  means  of  letters 
couched  in  the  elegant  Latin  of  his  secretary,  the  erudite 
Bembo,  the  year  1514  was  everywhere  marked  by  a 
cessation  of  open  warfare  and  by  an  increase  of  diplo- 
matic intrigue.  Marriages  with  Leo's  approval  were 
likewise  planned  with  the  object  of  ending  hereditary 
feuds  amongst  the  reigning  families  of  Europe  ;  nor  was 
the  Medicean  House  itself  forgotten  in  these  undertakings 
of  political  matrimony,  for  the  Pope  obtained  no  small 
amount  of  satisfaction  from  the  union  of  his  brother 
Giuliano  with  the  Princess  Filiberta  of  Savoy,  a  sister 
of  the  widowed  Duchess  of  Orleans  and  consequently 
aunt  to  the  future  Francis  I.  of  France.  The  news 
of  this  alliance,  a  brilliant  one  for  the  quasi-royal 
House  of  Medici,  was  warmly  received  at  the  Roman 
court,  where  the  bride's  arrival  was  awaited  with  im- 
patience as  the  one  thing  needful  to  complete  the  perfec- 
tion of  that  ecclesiastical  paradise,  which  alone  required 
the  permanent  presence  of  a  princess  in  its  midst  : 
"  God  be  praised  ! "  writes  the  delighted  Cardinal  da 
Bibbiena  to  the  expected  bridegroom,  "for  here  in  Rome 
we  lack  nothing  but  a  court  with  ladies  !  "  But  this 
period  of  comparative  peace  and  repose  was  ere  long 
rudely  disturbed  by  the  occurrence  of  one  of  those  events 
which  all  far-seeing  men  must  long  have  anticipated. 
On  New  Year's  Day,  1515,  expired  Louis  XII.  worn 
out  by  the  gaiety  and  high  spirits  of  his  young  bride, 
the  Princess  Mary  of  England,1  and  his  sudden  demise 
raised  to  the  throne  of  France  the  ever-famous  King 
Francis  I.  This  ambitious  youth  had  long  conceived 
an  unbounded  admiration  for  the  aims  and  personality 

1  Sister  of  Henry  VIII.  and  afterwards  Duchess  of  Brandon. 


MEDICEAN  AMBITION  139 

of  the  brilliant  but  short-lived  Gaston  de  Foix,  so 
that,  taking  the  ill-fated  victor  of  Ravenna  for  his  model, 
Francis  now  burned  to  revenge  the  late  French  de- 
feats in  Italy  and  to  win  back  that  sovereignty 
which  Charles  VIII.  had  enjoyed  for  so  brief  a  space. 
Except  that  he  was  youthful  and  vain-glorious,  the  new 
King  of  France  possessed  no  feature  either  mental  or 
bodily  in  common  with  the  little  caricature  of  a  man, 
who  had  been  crowned  at  Naples  twenty  years  before 
and  had  been  hailed  as  saviour  of  Italy  and  regenerator 
of  the  Church  by  the  impassioned  Savonarola.  To  a 
generous  and  heroic  disposition  and  a  shrewd  if  unripe 
understanding  Francis  added  also  remarkable  beauty  of 
form,  for  he  was  of  commanding  stature  and  owned  an 
attractive  face,  which  was  distinguished  rather  than 
marred  by  a  long  but  shapely  nose,  the  nose  that  Aretino 
once  celebrated  in  a  comical  yet  complimentary  ode. 
In  short,  Francis  was  the  ideal  young  warrior-prince  of 
his  age  ;  handsome  in  person,  brave  in  the  battle-field, 
highly  gifted  in  intellect  as  became  a  grandson  of  the 
poet  Duke  of  Orleans,  courteous  to  all  in  the  days  of 
prosperity  and  destined  to  prove  himself  patient  and 
dignified  in  that  hour  of  humiliation  which  lay  in  waiting 
for  him  in  the  distant  and  as  yet  unforeseen  future.  His 
adoring  sister,  Margaret  of  Valois,  "  la  Perle  des 
Valois,  la  Marguerite  des  Marguerites,"  hastening  to 
rescue  her  darling,  her  brother,  her  king  after  the  fatal 
catastrophe  of  Pavia,  has  described  Francis  of  France 
for  us  in  simple  yet  living  verses  of  her  own  composi- 
tion : — 

"  C'est  Luy  qui  a  de  tout  la  connoissance.  .  .  . 
De  sa  beaute  il  est  blanc  et  vermeil, 
Les  cheveux  bruns,  de  graude  et  belle  taille, 
En  terre  il  est  comme  au  ciel  le  soleil. 
Hardi,  vaillant,  sage,  et  preux  en  bataille, 


i4o  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

II  est  be"nin,  doux,  humble  en  sa  grandeur, 

Fort  et  puissant,  et  plein  de  patience, 

Soit  en  prison,  en  tristesse  et  malheur.  .  .  . 

II  a  de  Dieu  le  parfait  science.  .  .  . 

Bref,  Luy  tout  seul  est  digne  d'etre  Roi."  1 

Such  is  the  picture  drawn  by  Margaret  of  Valois  of 
her  sovereign  and  brother,  who  now  in  his  twenty-first 
year  declared  his  intention  to  invade  Italy  and  to  succeed 
or  perish  in  the  attempt. 

With  a  well-equipped  army  of  60,000  infantry, 
30,000  cavalry  and  72  pieces  of  artillery,  Francis,  ac- 
companied by  the  veteran  Milanese  general  Trivulzi, 
the  young  Constable  of  Bourbon  and  that  skilful  Spanish 
engineer,  Pedro  Navarro,  whom  his  master  Ferdinand 
of  Spain  had  been  too  mean  to  ransom  after  the  battle 
of  Ravenna,  crossed  the  Alps  despite  all  obstacles  human 
and  natural,  and  entered  the  plain  of  Saluzzo  in  Pied- 
mont in  the  early  autumn  of  1515.  The  forces  of  the 
Pope,  the  Emperor  and  the  Duke  of  Milan,  who  had 
lately  convened  a  league  "  for  the  defence  and  deliverance 
of  Italy"  against  the  new  French  aggression,  were 
astounded  and  disheartened  by  this  unexpected  and 
marvellous  strategy.  Nor  was  it  long  before  the  two 
armies  found  themselves  encamped  opposite  each  other 
at  Marignano,  some  few  miles  from  Milan,  the  joint 
forces  of  the  confederates  consisting  of  the  Spanish  army 
under  Cardona  ;  of  a  vast  array  of  Swiss  mercenaries  in 
the  pay  of  Pope  and  Emperor  and  controlled  by  the 
warlike  Matthew  Schinner,  Cardinal  of  Sion  ;  and  last, 
of  Leo's  own  army  commanded  by  his  nephew,  Lorenzo 
de'  Medici,  who  had  been  given  the  title  of  "Captain 
of  the  Church  and  of  the  Florentines  ".  We  are  at  this 
point  offered  a  typical  example  of  Leo's  crooked  policy 
in  the  circumstance  that  Lorenzo,  who  had  been  ap- 

1J.  Michelet,  La  Renaissance. 


MEDICEAN  AMBITION  141 

pointed  to  fill  this  post  owing  to  the  illness  of  his  uncle 
Giuliano,  had  received  explicit  but  private  instructions 
from  the  Pope  that  the  troops  under  his  command  were 
to  be  led  into  the  fray  only  after  the  issue  of  the  engage- 
ment had  been  definitely  decided.  But  although  de- 
termined to  safeguard  his  own  interests  in  the  event  of 
a  possible  French  victory,  yet  so  anxious  was  Leo  for 
the  defeat  of  the  invaders,  that  he  likewise  sent  secret 
orders  to  Schinner  to  urge  forward  the  Swiss  and  to 
allow  no  chance  of  their  defection  by  means  of  French 
gold.  Following  his  instructions  from  Rome,  therefore, 
Schinner  addressed  the  30,000  Switzers  before  the 
citadel  of  Milan,  bidding  them  in  passionate  phrases  to 
defend  the  cause  of  Holy  Church  and  of  the  Keys  of 
St.  Peter  by  annihilating  the  barbarian  host  now  en- 
camped at  Marignano :  "Would  that  I  were  permitted 
to  wash  my  hands  in  the  Frenchmen's  blood ! "  is 
the  concluding  sentence  of  the  fierce  harangue  that 
Guicciardini  puts  into  the  militant  cardinal's  mouth. 

After  some  vicissitudes  in  the  field  the  great  battle 
of  Marignano  ended  in  a  decisive  victory  for  the  French, 
who  thus  destroyed  for  ever  the  overweening  reputation 
of  that  Swiss  infantry,  upon  which  Leo  had  calculated 
with  such  confidence.  Unhappy  Milan  at  once  opened 
her  gates  to  the  conqueror,  whilst  her  Sforza  Duke, 
weary  of  being  the  puppet  alternately  of  Pope,  Emperor 
and  French  King,  gladly  agreed  to  accept  a  pension 
from  the  magnanimous  Francis,  who  now  assumed  the 
sovereignty  of  the  whole  Milanese.  Meanwhile,  before 
the  tide  of  success  had  turned  definitely  in  favour  of  the 
French,  the  impetuous  Schinner  had  hastily  despatched 
a  messenger  to  Rome,  telling  of  the  expected  victory  of 
the  confederate  army,  and  this  welcome  report  was  re- 
ceived at  the  Roman  court  with  such  transports  of  open 


i42  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

delight,  that  the  Cardinal  Bibbiena  actually  gave  orders 
for  a  public  illumination.      But  that  very  evening,  whilst 
the  city  was  sparkling  with  the  festal  lights  of  supposed 
triumph,    Marino    Giorgi,    the    Venetian   envoy,   whose 
state  was  once  more  in  close  alliance  with  the  invading 
French,   obtained  authentic  information  as  to  the  true 
result  of  the  recent  battle  near  Milan.     Early  the  follow- 
ing morning,  therefore,  Giorgi  presented  himself  at  the 
Vatican  to  request  an  immediate  audience  of  the  Pope. 
Generally  unpunctual  in  his  habits,  Leo  was  ever  a  late 
riser  from  bed,  and  accordingly  had  to  be  awakened  on 
so  important  an  occasion   by  his   chamberlain.      Half- 
dressed  and  still  heavy  with  sleep,  the  Pope  anxiously 
hurried  into  the  hall  of  audience.     Taking  a  malicious 
but  concealed  pleasure  in  the  Pontiff's  obvious  agitation 
and  pretending  to  assume  that  Leo's  equanimity  would 
in  no  wise  be  affected  by  his  news,  the  unfeeling  Giorgi 
much  enjoyed  the  delivery  of  his  unwelcome  message. 
"  Holy  Father,  yesterday  Your  Holiness  gave  me  bad 
news,  which  turned  out  to  be  false ;  but  to-day  I  can 
offer  you  information  which  is  not  only  good,  but  also 
true.     The  Swiss  are  utterly  routed !  "     Glancing  at  the 
accompanying   despatch,    Leo,   with   the  habitual  smile 
for  once  absent  from  a  woe-begone  and  terrified  counten- 
ance, forgot  for  a  brief  moment  his  accustomed  arts  of 
almost  oriental  dissimulation.     Clasping   his  hands   he 
cried  aloud  with  the  genuine  alarm  of  a  trickster  un- 
masked,  "  What,  then,  will  become  of  us,  and  also  of 
you?"       "So  far  as  we  are  concerned,  all  will  be  well," 
replied  the  unconcerned  ambassador,    "seeing  that  we 
are  the  Most  Christian   King's  own  allies,  nor  is  Your 

l4<Quid  ergo  erit  de  nobis,  et  quid  de  vobis?"  (J.  Michelet,  La 
Renaissance,  p.  369) — "  Notre  victoire  le  pressait  en  flagrant  delit  de 
duplicite." 


MEDICEAN  AMBITION  143 

Holiness  likely  to  suffer  any  hurt  at  his  hands " ;  and 
leaving  Leo  thus  a  prey  to  the  alarm  he  had  neglected 
to  hide,  Giorgi,  highly  gratified  with  his  late  diplomatic 
encounter,  returned  to  his  own  house,  where  a  barrel  of 
wine  was  broached  for  himself  and  his  companions  to 
drink  to  the  late  victory  and  to  the  memory  of  the  slain 
at  Marignano.  On  the  following  day  Giorgi  was  sum- 
moned to  the  Vatican,  where  he  was  angrily  accused  by 
Leo  of  having  openly  rejoiced  at  the  late  intelligence,  to 
which  the  envoy  replied  with  an  air  of  astonished 
innocence :  "  Holy  Father,  the  rejoicings  were  confined 
to  your  own  palace  the  other  evening,  there  were  none 
in  my  house! "  "  It  was  all  the  fault  of  the  Cardinal  of 
Santa  Maria  in  Portico  (Bibbiena),"  retorted  the  Pope, 
"and  he  acted  without  my  knowledge  in  the  matter. 
But,  my  lord  ambassador  of  Venice,  we  shall  now  see 
what  the  Most  Christian  King  will  do,  for  we  shall  place 
ourselves  in  his  hands  and  at  his  mercy."  "  Holy 
Father,"  replied  Giorgi,  who  was  thoroughly  enjoying 
Leo's  discomfiture,  "neither  Your  Holiness  nor  the  Holy 
See  will  obtain  the  least  hurt,  for  is  not  the  Most 
Christian  King  a  son  of  the  Church  ?'u 

Having  decided  to  seek  the  mercy  of  the  Most 
Christian  King,  Leo  proceeded  without  further  delay, 
in  spite  of  the  alarm  and  opposition  of  the  Roman  court, 
to  arrange  for  a  conference  with  Francis  who,  although 

o  o 

fully  aware  of  the  Pope's  treachery  at  Marignano,  was 
most  anxious  for  various  reasons  to  gain  the  latter's 
good-will  and  alliance.  Late  in  November,  therefore, 
Leo  arrived  with  an  immense  retinue  outside  the  walls 
of  Florence  on  his  way  northward  towards  Bologna,  the 
fixed  trysting-place  of  King  and  Pontiff,  but  at  the 

1  Alberi,  Relazioni  Venete,  serie  2da,  vol.  iii.,  p.  44 ;  Creighton, 
vol.  v.,  p.  244. 


144  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

special  request  of  the  Signory,  he  consented  to  tarry 
awhile  at  the  Gianfigliazzi  villa  in  the  suburb  of 
Marignolle,  whilst  the  city  was  busily  preparing  a  public 
reception  worthy  of  one  who  was  its  first  citizen  as  well 
as  its  spiritual  chief.  It  was  the  Medici's  first  entrance 
into  his  birthplace  as  Supreme  Pontiff,  and  even  his 
unbounded  craving  for  adulation  and  pageantry  must 
have  been  appeased  by  the  sight  of  the  triumphal  arches, 
the  elaborate  artistic  surprises  and  the  applauding  crowds 
of  his  own  countrymen,  for  whom  Leo  with  all  his  faults 
and  selfishness  bore  a  sincere  affection.  The  Pope  with 
eighteen  cardinals  and  accompanied  by  hundreds  of 
nobles  and  men-at-arms  made  his  state-entry  into  the 
city  by  the  Porta  Romana,  which  still  bears  on  its  brown 
weather-stained  face  a  broad  marble  tablet  telling  pos- 
terity of  this  auspicious  event  and  of  the  honour  conferred 
thereby  on  the  Florentines.  So  vast  was  the  papal 
train  that  the  authorities  had  first  removed  the  outer 
courtyard  of  the  gate  itself,  through  which  the  brilliant 
slow-moving  throng  passed  on  St.  Andrew's  Day,  3Oth 
November,  1515.  At  the  church  of  San  Felice  below 
the  Pitti  Palace,  through  Leo's  spy-glass  was  perceived 
the  first  of  the  many  triumphal  erections ;  this  at  San 
Felice  bearing  on  its  crest  a  bust  of  the  Magnificent 
Lorenzo  with  the  legend  borrowed  from  Holy  Writ, 
"  This  is  my  beloved  Son  "  (Hie  est  Filius  meus  dilectus], 
the  sight  of  which  made  the  emotional  Pontiff  fall  into 
tears.  Down  the  broad  street  of  Via  Maggio  with  its 
stately  but  gloomy  palaces,  across  the  old  bridge  of 
Santa  Trinita  backed  by  the  huge  form  of  the  Spini 
mansion,  and  thence  through  the  Porta  Rossa,  the  New 
Market  and  the  narrow  Via  Vacchereccia  into  the  great 
square  of  the  Signoria  below  the  frowning  civic  palace 
wound  the  long  papal  procession,  with  Leo  himself  in 


MEDICEAN  AMBITION  145 

tiara  and  glittering  cope  bestowing  numberless  benedic- 
tions upon  his  fellow-citizens  to  the  accompaniment  of  a 
continuous  shower  of  broad  silver  pieces  amongst  the 
bystanders.  Beneath  the  wide  arches  of  the  Loggia  de' 
Lanzi  a  huge  figure  of  gilded  wood  representing  Hercules 
with  his  club,  the  work  of  Baccio  Bandinelli,  had  been 
erected,  overtopping  Donatello's  group  of  Judith  slaying 
Holofernes,  which  this  same  city  of  Florence  had  placed 
in  Orcagna's  beautiful  arcade  at  the  time  of  the  expulsion 
of  the  Medici  some  twenty  years  before,  to  serve  as  a 
solemn  warning  to  tyrants,  as  its  terse  inscription  testifies 
to-day.1  Sweeping  past  the  Loggia  and  the  historic 
statue  of  the  Florentine  Marzocco,  that  placid  lion  clasp- 
ing the  emblem  of  the  City  of  the  Lily  in  his  paws,  the 
cavalcade  proceeded  by  way  of  the  frowning  mass  of 
the  Bargello  towards  the  gigantic  form  of  the  Duomo, 
the  Pope  meanwhile  surveying  through  his  monocle  the 
cheering  crowds  of  townsmen  and  peasants  and  stopping 
ever  and  anon  to  admire  the  many  festal  surprises,  or  to 
read  their  flattering  inscriptions.  Possibly  this  enthusi- 
astic reception  in  his  native  Florence  may  have  seemed 
even  more  agreeable  and  satisfying  to  the  fortunate  Leo 
than  those  splendid  pageants  which  had  marked  his 
progress  from  St.  Peter's  to  the  Lateran,  less  than  three 
years  before ;  but  it  was  evident  that  the  popular  rejoic- 
ings were  equally  sincere  and  spontaneous  in  both  cities. 
On  reaching  the  Cathedral  steps  Leo  must  have  ex- 
pressed his  astonishment  at  the  remarkable  transforma- 
tion of  its  naked  and  unsightly  front  through  the  skill  of 
the  architect,  Jacopo  Sansovino,  aided  by  the  ready 
brush  of  Andrea  del  Sarto,  then  a  rising  young  Florentine 
painter.  For  from  the  crest  of  the  roof  to  the  level  of 

1  Exemplum  Sal.  Pub.  Gives.  Pos,  Mccccxcv. 

10 


i46  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

the  ground  a  temporary  facade  adorned  with  columns, 
cornices,  architraves  and  portals,  all  fashioned  out  of 
wood  and  plaster  so  as  to  imitate  rare  and  antique 
marbles,  had  been  hastily  erected,  with  statues  in  its 
niches  and  with  its  flat  spaces  covered  in  chiaroscuro  in 
"the  Perfect  Painter's"  most  graceful  and  attractive 
manner.  "  Everybody,"  says  Landucci,  "  was  filled  with 
amazement  at  its  pictures  and  ornaments ;  saying  it 
ought  to  serve  as  a  model  for  a  new  facade  to  the 
Cathedral,  since  all  were  so  pleased  at  its  noble  and 
stately  appearance ; — indeed,  we  were  all  distressed  to 
see  it  dismantled  and  removed."1  Within  the  spacious 
nave  of  the  church  itself  a  narrow  but  lofty  platform  had 
been  constructed  on  trestles,  whereby  the  Pontiff  and  his 
companions  might  advance  unimpeded  to  the  high  altar, 
whilst  the  immense  crowd  below  could  secure  a  better 
view  of  the  illustrious  guest.  On  reaching  the  altar, 
His  Holiness  doffed  jewelled  tiara  and  gorgeous  cope, 
appearing  to  public  gaze  clad  in  the  rochet  of  white 
brocade,  the  crimson  mozzetta  or  cape,  and  the  loose 
skull-cap,  also  of  crimson  velvet,  in  which  Raphael  has 
depicted  Leo  X.  for  us  in  his  most  famous  portrait. 
Thus  arrayed,  the  Pontiff,  after  offering  up  prayers  and 
making  some  splendid  gifts  to  the  Cathedral  treasury, 
pursued  his  course  amid  renewed  applause  towards  the 
great  Dominican  convent  of  Santa  Maria  Novella, 
where  a  set  of  rooms,  magnificently  appointed,  had 
been  prepared  for  his  reception.  Luxurious  quarters 
had  likewise  been  provided  for  the  eighteen  cardinals, 
and  for  such  distinguished  guests  as  the  poet  Sannazzaro, 
the  chamberlain  Serapica,  the  papal  secretaries  Bembo 
and  Sadoleto  and  others  who  had  swelled  the  train  of 

1  Landucci,  p.  356.      Vasari,  Vita  di  Andrea  del  Sarto. 


MEDICEAN  AMBITION  147 

Leo  on  this  occasion.  Of  the  efforts  thus  made  by  the 
richest  city  in  Italy  to  do  honour  to  Pope  Leo,  her  own 
citizen,  Landucci  mentions  fifteen  arches,  trophies, 
obelisks,  statues  or  emblematic  figures  placed  at  various 
points  of  the  Pope's  line  of  procession  ;  nor  does  he  omit 
to  mention  the  wholesale  destruction  of  dwelling-houses 
that  were  thought  to  interfere  with  the  pleasing  effects 
aimed  at  by  the  Florentine  artists,  who  had  been  entrusted 
by  the  Signory  with  the  general  scheme  of  decoration. 
Over  two  thousand  workmen  had  been  kept  busily  em- 
ployed night  and  day  for  the  space  of  a  full  month, 
making  use  of  the  churches  themselves  as  temporary 
workshops,  whilst  the  expenses  entailed  amounted  to  no 
less  a  sum  than  70,000  florins,  a  piece  of  civic  extra- 
vagance which  caused  no  little  regret  to  the  frugal 
Landucci,  who  laments  this  squandering  of  the  city's 
wealth  upon  "such  flimsy  conceits,  which  passed  away  like 
a  shadow,"  although  he  affects  to  rejoice  at  the  benefits 
conferred  thereby  on  the  carpenters  and  artisans  of 
Florence.1 

On  the  following  day,  however,  the  Pope  exchanged 
his  apartments  at  Santa  Maria  Novella  for  the  famous 
suite  of  rooms  in  the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  still  known  as 
"  the  Quarter  of  Pope  Leo  X.,"  which  in  later  years  were 
adorned  with  an  interesting  series  of  frescoes  from  the 
brush  of  Vasari,  who  on  the  walls  and  ceilings  of  these 
chambers  has  commemorated  Leo's  principal  achieve- 
ments, as  well  as  those  of  other  members  of  the  senior 
branch  of  the  Medicean  House.  Although  this  gallery 
of  historical  incidents  in  the  careers  of  Leo  X.,  Clement 
VII.  and  their  immediate  ancestors  is  not  the  work  of  a 
contemporaneous  artist  (for  Vasari  was  but  an  infant  at 

Landucci,  p.  359. 


148  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

the  date  of  Leo's  official  entry  into  Florence),  yet  these 
beautiful  and  well-preserved  frescoes  in  the  so-called 
Quartiere  di  Leone  Decimo  of  the  old  Florentine  public 
palace  are  deserving  of  more  attention  than  is  usually 
paid  to  them.  In  particular,  the  large  composition  de- 
picting the  papal  procession  just  described,  with  its 
interesting  view  of  the  Piazza,  della  Signoria  in  Vasari's 
time  and  with  its  curious  representation  of  Leo's  eighteen 
scarlet-clad  cardinals  on  mule-back,  of  the  Pope  himself 
borne  aloft  in  his  chair  of  state,  and  of  the  papal 
train,  which  includes  portraits  of  Bembo,  Aretino, 
Serapica,  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  and  of  half  the  notabilities 
of  the  Leonine  Age,  is  especially  worthy  of  careful  inspec- 
tion by  those  who  wish  to  study  the  gayer  and  more 
pleasing  aspect  of  the  life  of  the  Italian  Renaissance.1 

But  Leo's  first  visit  to  his  native  town  was  of  neces- 
sity curtailed,  for  he  was  most  anxious  to  reach  his  true 
destination,  Bologna.  After  kneeling  beside  the  tomb 
of  his  father  in  San  Lorenzo,  where  to  the  edification  of 
the  impressed  bystanders  he  made  his  orisons  with  tears 
streaming  down  his  cheeks,  and  after  spending  some 
hours  with  the  ailing  Giuliano  in  the  old  mansion  of  his 
family,  Leo  prepared  to  leave  Florence  on  3rd  Decem- 
ber for  Bologna,  which  city  the  Pope  had  prudently 
selected  as  his  place  of  meeting  with  King  Francis,  whom 
naturally  he  was  anxious  to  avoid  receiving  in  Rome 
whilst  flushed  with  his  recent  victory.  The  main  features 
of  the  coming  conference  had  already  been  arranged  as 
early  as  i5th  October,  between  the  French  chancellor, 
Duprat,  and  Ludovico  da  Canossa,  bishop  of  Tricarico, 
who  was  perhaps  Leo's  ablest  diplomatic  agent.  Broadly 
speaking,  by  this  suggested  treaty  the  Pope  was  to  re- 

1  Bacciotti,  Firenze  Illustrata,  vol.  i. 


MEDICEAN  AMBITION  149 

pudiate  his  former  alliance  with  the  Emperor  (with  whom, 
it  is  probably  needless  to  remark,  Leo  was  still  in  con- 
stant communication) ;  he  was  to  surrender  those  coveted 
cities  of  Parma  and  Piacenza  to  the  King  of  France,  as 
conqueror  of  the  Milanese  ;  and  he  was  also  required  to 
restore  for  a  fixed  sum  the  towns  of  Reggio  and  Modena, 
which  he  had  lately  acquired  from  the  Emperor,  to  their 
rightful  owner,  Alfonso  of  Ferrara,  who  was  Francis' 
ally.  In  return  for  these  concessions,  Francis  swore  to 
protect  the  States  of  the  Church  and  the  Medicean  realm 
of  Florence,  and  also  to  bestow  revenues  and  commands 
upon  the  papal  nephew  and  brother ;  whilst  the  long- 
standing dispute  concerning  the  privileges  of  the  Gallican 
Church  was  to  be  settled  to  suit  the  mutual  convenience 
of  King  and  Pope,  without  reference  to  the  French 
people  or  clergy.  Under  the  circumstances,  it  cannot 
be  denied  that  this  proposed  compact,  which  was  mainly 
due  to  the  arts  and  blandishments  of  the  insinuating 
Canossa,  was  highly  favourable  to  the  Pontiff,  who  hoped 
moreover  to  secure  even  better  terms  than  these  as  the 
result  of  a  personal  interview  with  the  youthful  King. 

The  Pope's  reception  by  the  Bolognese,  many  of 
whom  were  still  regretting  the  expulsion  of  their  late 
Bentivoglio  rulers,  offered  a  striking  contrast  with  the 
late  civic  greetings  in  Florence.  Neither  cheering  crowds 
nor  triumphal  arches  met  the  eyes  of  the  entering  caval- 
cade as  it  threaded  its  way  through  the  arcaded  streets 
of  the  town  towards  the  great  Palazzo  Pubblico,  where 
the  leading  citizens  received  their  papal  master  with 
black  looks  and  in  a  sulky  silence,  which  was  even  broken 
once  or  twice  by  the  raising  of  the  old  cry  of  Sega! 
Sega  f  of  the  departed  Bentivogli.1  But  Leo  was  deter- 

1  Sega,  "a  saw";  the  heraldic  emblem  of  the  House  of  Benti- 
voglio. 


ISO  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

mined  to  show  himself  gracious  on  this  occasion,  and 
therefore  only  reproved  the  indignant  Paris  de  Grassis, 
when  the  latter  pointed  out  to  him  that  the  authorities 
were  treating  His  Holiness  with  scant  respect,  since  only 
one  canopy  of  silk  and  another  of  shabby  stained  cloth 
had  been  provided  by  the  city  to  afford  the  customary 
shelter  for  the  Sacrament  and  for  the  person  of  the 
Supreme  Pontiff.1  Yet  Leo's  good  humour  was  proof 
even  against  conduct  so  dastardly  as  this,  so  that  he 
merely  gave  orders  for  the  silken  baldacchino  to  be  borne 
above  the  Host,  whilst  he  himself  dispensed  altogether 
with  this  particular  emblem  of  state.  Under  these  de- 
pressing conditions  of  manifest  disloyalty  and  dislike,  the 
Pope  formally  convoked  the  consistory  in  a  hall  of  the 
palace,  where  twenty  cardinals  were  now  collected,  the 
most  prominent  absentee  of  the  College  being  Francesco 
Soderini,  whom  Leo  had  left  behind  in  Rome  to  act  as 
legate,  not  out  of  any  special  confidence  in  the  Florentine 
Cardinal's  powers,  but  because  he  deemed  his  presence 
in  Florence  or  Bologna  as  likely  to  excite  intrigue. 

On  nth  December  Francis  was  met  in  state  by 
Giulio  de'  Medici  at  the  city  gates,  but  in  spite  of  the 
exhortations  of  Paris  de  Grassis,  the  King  positively  re- 
fused to  be  made  the  central  figure  of  an  organised 
pageant,  declaring  bluntly  that  "he  cared  not  a  whit  for 
processions  ".2  Plainly  habited,  the  young  monarch  made 
his  way  through  the  pressing  and  staring  throng  of 
citizens  towards  the  Palazzo  Pubblico,  where  he  was 
most  cordially  received  by  the  Supreme  Pontiff.  Al- 
though the  marplot  of  all  his  far-reaching  schemes  in 
Italy,  Leo,  who  had  a  keen  appreciation  of  youthful  grace 
and  beauty,  could  not  but  regard  with  interest,  or  even 

1  Diary  of  Paris  de  Grassis,  Creighton,  vol.  v. 

2  Fabroni,  Appendix  XLIV. 


MEDICEAN  AMBITION  151 

with  paternal  affection  this  young  Prince  Charming,  who 
was  now  ushered  bare-headed  into  his  presence.  Kneel- 
ing at  the  pontifical  feet,  the  French  King  made  solemn 
profession  in  his  native  tongue  of  his  intense  devotion 
towards  the  Holy  See  and  naively  expressed  his  pleasure 
at  thus  beholding  face  to  face  for  the  first  time  "  the  Pope, 
the  Vicar  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ".  To  this  ingenuous 
greeting,  Leo,  who  was  perfectly  versed  in  the  art  of 
public  oratory,  "replied  in  the  most  excellent  manner, 
for  fair  speech  was  always  customary  with  him  ".  The 
formal  ceremonies  of  the  meeting  concluded,  a  private 
conference  between  Pope  and  King  was  next  arranged, 
whereat  Leo  without  doubt  made  full  use  of  every 
Medicean  art  to  threaten  or  cajole  the  prince  into  re- 
laxing some  of  the  terms  already  agreed  upon.  But 
upon  the  point  of  Leo's  surrender  of  Parma,  Piacenza 
and  Modena,  the  King,  despite  his  youthful  years  and 
his  expressed  veneration  for  the  person  of  the  Pontiff, 
remained  obdurate.  Leo,  therefore,  much  exasperated 
at  this  failure  of  the  usual  methods  of  Medicean  diplomacy, 
refused  on  his  part  to  listen  to  Francis'  earnest  appeal 
for  the  pardon  of  the  Duke  of  Urbino,  whose  ruin  the 
Pope  was  then  certainly  contemplating.  Leo  likewise 
received  very  coldly  the  proposal  for  the  King's  investi- 
ture of  the  realm  of  Naples,  which  he  declared  it  would 
be  impossible  for  him  to  grant  during  the  lifetime  of 
Ferdinand  of  Spain  ;  and  it  was  the  Medici's  undoubted 
diplomatic  skill  that  alone  prevented  the  young  King, 
elated  by  his  recent  success  at  Marignano  and  supported 
by  a  splendid  army,  from  advancing  southward  and 
forcibly  seizing  that  coveted  kingdom,  which  His  Holiness 
was  so  unwilling  to  bestow.  On  the  treatment  of  the 
defenceless  Gallican  Church,  in  the  suppression  of  whose 
ancient  liberties  both  Pope  and  King  had  a  special  in- 


152  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

terest,  Leo  and  Francis  soon  came  to  terms ;  nor  were 
they  parsimonious  in  their  mutual  promises  of  honours 
and  titles  ; — Leo  bestowing  a  scarlet  hat  upon  Adrian  de 
Boissy,  the  king's  tutor,  and  Francis  creating  Giuliano 
de'  Medici  Duke  of  Nemours.  The  main  result  of  this 
conference,  therefore,  proved  not  particularly  satisfactory 
to  either  party,  for  the  King  had  failed  to  obtain  his 
chief  object,  the  investiture  of  the  kingdom  of  Naples  ; 
whilst  Leo  was  greatly  irritated  at  the  enforced  surrender 
of  Parma  and  Modena.  And  although  Alfonso  of 
Ferrara  had  good  reason  to  congratulate  himself  on  the 
Pope's  unwilling  consent  to  give  up  Modena,  yet  his 
brother  vassal  of  the  Church,  the  Delia  Rovere  Duke  of 
Urbino,  must  have  foreseen  his  inevitable  overthrow  in 
the  King's  failure  to  avert  the  impending  vengeance  of 
the  angry  Pope. 

Francis  of  France  tarried  altogether  only  four  days 
at  Bologna,  but  his  brief  visit  was  naturally  distinguished 
by  every  variety  of  pageant  and  ceremony,  including  a 
Mass  said  by  Leo  in  person  at  the  high  altar  of  the  great 
church  of  San  Petronio,  on  which  occasion  the  French 
monarch  did  not  hesitate  to  serve  the  Pontiff  in  his  holy 
office  by  bearing  in  his  own  royal  hands  the  basin  with 
the  water  at  the  Lavabo.  In  public  a  good  deal  was 
said  on  both  sides  concerning  the  virtue  of  Christian 
peace  and  charity,  as  also  of  the  dire  necessity  of  an 
universal  campaign  of  Christendom  against  the  Turks. 
Duprat,  the  French  chancellor,  even  made  an  im- 
passioned appeal  to  the  successor  of  the  Fisherman  to 
guide  the  barque  of  Christ's  Church  into  the  haven  of 
perfect  peace ;  in  short,  both  parties  seem  to  have  ex- 
hausted themselves  in  insincere  professions  of  friendship 
and  confidence.  For  nobody  was  deceived  by  these  fine 
sentiments  and  edifying  speeches ;  on  the  contrary,  all 


MEDICEAN  AMBITION  153 

men  present  knew  of  the  royal  and  papal  ambitions,  nor 
was  anyone  ignorant  of  the  punishment  that  was  shortly 
to  fall  on  the  erring  Duke  of  Urbino. 

It  is  impossible  to  dwell  further  on  the  many  events 
incident  to  this  famous  but  indecisive  conference  at 
Bologna,  which  has  been  commemorated  for  us  in  one 
of  Raphael's  splendid  frescoes  in  the  Vatican — the  Coro- 
nation of  Charlemagne,  wherein  the  Prankish  emperor, 
represented  with  the  clear-cut  features,  the  lank  black 
hair,  and  the  pallid  complexion  of  the  youthful  Francis 
of  France,  receives  the  imperial  diadem  at  the  hands  of 
Pope  Leo  III.,  in  the  guise  of  his  namesake  and  suc- 
cessor Leo  X. ;  whilst  the  little  Ippolito  de'  Medici, 
Giuliano's  bastard  son,  in  the  livery  of  a  page  upholds 
the  kneeling  emperor's  mantle.  There  was  of  course 
the  customary  interchange  of  gifts  between  King  and 
Pope,  His  Holiness  presenting  Francis  with  a  fine  dia- 
mond and  a  golden  reliquary  containing  a  piece  of  the 
True  Cross.  The  French  monarch,  however,  the  future 
patron  of  Andrea  del  Sarto  and  of  Benvenuto  Cellini, 
who  already  prided  himself  upon  his  knowledge  of  modern 
and  antique  art,  appeared  not  a  little  disappointed  at  the 
papal  presents.  Assuming  Leo  to  be  the  possessor  of 
an  abundant  store  of  ancient  statuary  in  Rome,  the 
young  prince  coolly  expressed  to  His  Holiness  an  over- 
whelming desire  to  possess  that  marble  group  of  the 
Laocoon,  of  whose  beauties  he  had  heard  such  glowing 
accounts.  This  masterpiece  of  classical  art,  which  still 
remains  one  of  the  chief  treasures  of  the  Vatican  galleries, 
had  been  excavated  almost  intact  about  seven  years 
previously  by  the  lucky  owner  of  a  vineyard  on  the  site 
of  the  Baths  of  Titus.  The  finder,  a  certain  Felice  de' 
Fredis,  had  promptly  sold  his  treasure-trove  to  the  late 
Pope,  but  in  the  epitaph  upon  his  tomb  in  a  Roman 


154  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

church  Felice  proudly  asserts  his  claim  to  popular  re- 
membrance and  gratitude  as  the  discoverer  of  "this 
breathing  group  in  marble"  (respirans  simulacrum]}- 
The  present  owner  of  the  Laocoon,  Pope  Leo,  must 
have  been  indeed  startled  at  the  French  King's  audaci- 
ous request,  but  although,  in  the  words  of  an  unkind 
modern  critic,  he  would  sooner  have  surrendered  up 
the  genuine  head  of  an  Apostle  than  this  cherished 
block  of  marble,  the  Pontiff  managed  to  keep  his  counten- 
ance, graciously  declaring  his  readiness  to  despatch  the 
desired  object  to  France.  Nevertheless,  having  gained 
the  King's  warm  thanks  for  such  generosity,  it  is  said  that 
Leo  merely  sent  instructions  to  that  mediocre  Florentine 
sculptor,  Baccio  Bandinelli,  whose  copies  of  the  antique 
were  known  to  be  far  superior  to  his  original  productions, 
to  prepare  a  replica  of  the  Laocoon  with  all  speed,  where- 
with to  satisfy  this  importunate  young  conqueror. 

On  1 5th  December  Francis  quitted  Bologna,  not 
over-pleased  with  the  results  of  the  late  conference, 
whilst  three  days  later  the  Pope  himself,  only  tolerably 
satisfied  with  the  French  King's  concessions,  set  out  for 
Florence,  arriving  there  on  22nd  December  and  re- 
maining eight  weeks.  This,  Leo's  last  visit  to  his  birth- 
place, afforded  small  pleasure  either  to  the  Pope  or  to 
the  Florentines,  for  the  city  was  suffering  from  a  scarcity 
of  provisions,  so  that  the  starving  populace  was  much 
scandalised  at  the  daily  spectacle  of  thoughtless  luxury 

1The  epitaph  is  quoted  by  Duppa  (Life  of  Michelangelo,  p.  50) : — 
Felici  de  Fredis, 
Qui  ob  proprias  virtutes, 
Et  repertum  Laocoontis  divinum  quod 
In  Vaticano  cernes  fere 
Respirans  simulacrum, 
Im  mortalitatem  meruit 
Anno  Domini  MDXXVIII. 


MEDICEAN  AMBITION  155 

and  extravagance  in  a  season  of  dearth,  which  was  openly 
exhibited  by  the  younger  cardinals,  such  as  Sauli  and 
Petrucci.  In  addition  to  the  shortage  of  corn  and  disas- 
trous floods  in  the  Arno,  the  Pope  was  a  prey  to  the 
deepest  anxiety  concerning  the  deplorable  condition  of 
his  brother  Giuliano,  who  was  rapidly  sinking  into  an 
early  grave.  All  the  males  of  the  House  of  Medici 
seem  to  have  been  delicate  and  short-lived,  and  Giuliano 
was  now  in  the  last  stages  of  a  galloping  consumption, 
"appearing  utterly  shrunken  and  spent  like  an  expiring 
candle,"  says  the  historian  Cambi,  who  adds  that  the 
ailing  prince  bore  his  distressing  malady  with  exemplary 
patience  and  that  the  whole  city  was  filled  with  compas- 
sion for  his  sufferings.  Removed  for  change  of  air  from 
the  Medicean  palace  to  the  abbey  below  Fiesole,  the 
dying  prince  was  frequently  visited  by  the  Pontiff,  of 
whose  presence  at  Fiesole  there  still  exists  a  memorial 
in  the  papal  escutcheon  that  adorns  the  steep  rocky  path- 
way leading  upward  from  San  Domenico.  Nor  were 
these  meetings  between  the  two  brothers  rendered  easier 
or  less  melancholy  by  Giuliano's  constant  anxiety  con- 
cerning Leo's  open  intention  to  deprive  Francesco  Delia 
Rovere  of  his  dominions  and  to  create  the  young  Lorenzo 
Duke  of  Urbino  in  his  stead.  The  past  hospitality  he 
had  accepted  at  the  court  of  Urbino  and  a  personal  at- 
tachment to  the  reigning  duke  and  the  Duchess  Elisa- 
betta  made  the  generous  Giuliano  most  eager  to  appease 
his  brother's  wrath,  but  though  as  a  dying  man  he  im- 
plored Leo  again  and  again  to  forgive  Delia  Rovere  for 
his  manifest  disobedience  and  hostility,  he  could  obtain 
no  satisfactory  answer  to  his  constant  plea.  "Think 
first  upon  getting  well,  my  Giuliano,  for  this  is  no  meet 
time  to  vex  thyself  with  politics,"  was  ever  the  evasive 
reply  of  the  Pontiff,  who  besides  being  filled  with  an  in- 


i56  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

creasing  rancour  against  the  duke  was  likewise  importuned 
ceaselessly  by  his  sister-in-law,  the  restless  Alfonsina, 
to  proclaim  her  only  son  a  sovereign  prince  in  Urbino. 
On  1 9th  February,  Leo,  recalled  to  Rome  by  news  of 
the  death  of  the  aged  Ferdinand  of  Spain,  quitted  for 
ever  Florence  and  his  unhappy  brother,  who  expired  a 
month  later  on  I7th  March  at  the  abbey  of  Fiesole  in 
the  thirty-eighth  year  of  his  age,  childless  save  for  one 
illegitimate  son,  Ippolito  de'  Medici,  the  celebrated 
Cardinal  of  a  later  period.  Four  days  after  his  death 
the  body  of  Giuliano  was  interred  in  San  Lorenzo  with 
the  utmost  pomp  and  amidst  the  general  grief  of  the 
citizens,  for  the  handsome  and  liberal-minded  if  some- 
what languid  and  extravagant  prince  was  undeniably  the 
most  popular  with  the  Florentines  of  the  Magnificent 
Lorenzo's  three  sons.  He  had  always  shown  moreover 
a  genuine  aversion  to  all  tyranny  and  double  dealing, 
and  these  rare  qualities  together  with  his  deep  sense  of 
gratitude  towards  those  who  had  befriended  him  in  days 
of  poverty  and  exile  mark  him  as  worthy  of  special  praise 
in  an  age  of  savage  violence  and  selfish  cunning.  Alto- 
gether, despite  many  moral  shortcomings,  "Giuliano  il 
Buono,"  at  once  the  perfect  courtier  and  judicious  patron 
of  letters,  the  intimate  friend  of  Castiglione  and  Bembo, 
the  handsome  prince  who  was  by  choice  a  plain  Floren- 
tine burgher  in  the  citizen's  cloak,  appears  to  us  one  of 
the  most  attractive  personalities  the  Italian  Renaissance 
can  claim  to  have  produced.1  And  although  vexed  at 
his  younger  brother's  lack  of  ambition  and  his  simplicity 
of  character,  Leo  loved  him  dearly,  so  that  his  death, 
though  long  imminent,  was  severely  felt  by  the  Pontiff, 
who — perhaps  rightly — had  refused  to  grant  a  favourite 

1  Giuliano's  curious  emblem — a   triangle  containing   the  letters 
G.L.O.V.I.S. — is  mentioned  by  Scipione  Ammirato  (Opuscoli,  vol.  iii.). 


TOMB  OF  GIULIANO  DE'   MEDICI 


MEDICEAN  AMBITION  157 

brother's  dying  request.  For  it  had  been  to  Giuliano 
that  Leo  in  the  first  flush  of  gratified  ambition  had 
spoken  those  famous  words,  which  have  never  been  dis- 
proved— "Since  God  has  given  us  the  Papacy,  my 
Giuliano,  let  us  enjoy  it "  ;  and  now  half  his  expected  en- 
joyment had  been  removed  by  Giuliano's  untimely 
end.  It  was  a  double  blow,  alike  to  Leo's  private 
affections  and  to  his  political  dreams,  for  undoubtedly 
the  Pope  did  not  bear  the  same  regard  towards  his 
nephew  Lorenzo,  who  through  his  uncle's  death  had 
now  become  the  sole  surviving  layman  of  his  House. 
There  was  of  course  a  great  display  of  public  mourning 
in  Rome,  but  Leo  himself  was  plainly  admonished  by 
that  papal  Polonius,  his  own  master  of  the  ceremonies, 
to  control  his  natural  feelings  and  to  show  no  visible 
sign  of  grief  to  those  around  him,  "since  the  Supreme 
Pontiff  is  not  a  man,  but  a  demi-god,  and  ought  there- 
fore always  to  exhibit  a  serene  and  smiling  countenance 
on  all  occasions  to  the  people  V 

It  is  wholly  beyond  the  scope  of  the  present  work  to 
penetrate  within  the  maze  of  European  politics  which 
followed  upon  the  death  of  Ferdinand  of  Spain  and  the 
peaceful  succession  of  the  youthful  Archduke  Charles  to 
the  thrones  of  Castile  and  Naples.  Close  upon  this 
momentous  event  came  the  treaty  of  Noyon  and  the  sub- 
sequent settlement  whereby  the  series  of  wars  inaugurated 
by  the  League  of  Cambrai  and  originally  directed  against 
the  republic  of  Venice  was  at  last  terminated,  leaving 
Venice  herself  intact  indeed  in  territory  but  weakened 
by  the  long  conflict  since  the  evil  day  of  Vaila.  All 
Italy  was  therefore  once  more  permitted  to  enjoy  an  in- 

1  Diary  of  Paris  de  Grass  is. 


158  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

terval  of  precious  peace  with  the  exception  of  the  state 
of  Urbino,  which  Leo,  now  secure  from  French  inter- 
vention, was  preparing  to  crush  with  all  the  military  and 
spiritual  weapons  at  his  disposal.  Three  definite  charges 
were  first  formulated  against  the  trembling  duke,  who 
shortly  after  Giuliano's  death  was  cited  to  Rome  to 
answer  in  person  before  the  pontifical  throne.  Firstly, 
Francesco- Maria  Delia  Rovere  was  reminded  of  his 
assassination  of  Cardinal  Alidosi  four  years  before :  a 
crime  which  rendered  him  unfit  to  remain  a  vassal  and 
true  protector  of  Holy  Church  ;  secondly,  he  was  accused 
of  disobedience  to  Julius'  command  to  assist  the  return 
of  the  Medici  to  Florence  in  1512,  and  also  of  intriguing 
with  the  French  on  several  occasions ;  and  thirdly,  he 
was  admonished  concerning  his  refusal  to  serve  in  the 
papal  army  commanded  by  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  before 
Milan  in  the  autumn  of  the  previous  year.  All  these 
charges  were  unanswerable,  although  it  was  true  that 
Julius  had  eventually  condoned  his  nephew's  murder  of 
Alidosi,  and  that  the  duke's  real  crime  in  Leo's  eyes 
did  not  consist  so  much  in  his  past  treachery  towards  the 
Church  as  in  his  obvious  hostility  to  the  House  of 
Medici  and  its  interests.  Nevertheless,  it  is  certain  that 
on  two  recent  occasions  Delia  Rovere  had  deliberately 
refused  to  obey  the  legitimate  orders  of  his  suzerain,  the 
Supreme  Pontiff,  and  it  becomes  difficult,  therefore,  to 
understand  why  so  many  historians  have  set  themselves 
with  such  ardour  to  blame  Leo  for  his  action  in  expelling 
so  undesirable  a  vassal  of  the  Church  from  the  ancient 
patrimony  of  the  Montefeltre,  to  which  the  Delia  Rovere 
duke  could  plead  no  real  hereditary  title.  That  Leo 
nursed  a  personal  grudge  against  the  duke  and  also 
harboured  ulterior  designs  in  desiring  to  bestow  Urbino 
itself  on  his  own  nephew,  does  not  affect  the  argument 


MEDICEAN  AMBITION  159 

concerning  a  sovereign's  right  to  punish  or  expel  a  danger- 
ous and  disobedient  feudatory  prince.  Likewise,  the  fact 
that  the  subsequent  war  proved  tedious,  expensive  and 
productive  of  intense  misery,  cannot  well  be  imputed  as 
a  crime  in  the  Pontiff,  who  certainly  looked  for  an  easy, 
if  not  a  bloodless  annexation  of  the  duchy  of  Urbino. 

On  Francesco's  refusal  to  betake  himself  to  Rome  to 
answer  the  charges  formulated,  Leo  pronounced  a  Bull 
of  excommunication  against  the  absent  duke  ;  despatched 
an  army  under  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  into  his  territories ; 
and  thus  speedily  drove  the  almost  friendless  Delia 
Rovere  tyrant  to  seek  refuge  at  the  hospitable  court  of 
Mantua.  Urbino  itself  being  quickly  reduced,  on  i8th 
August,  1516,  the  papal  nephew  was  solemnly  proclaimed 
Duke  of  Urbino  and  Lord  of  Pesaro,  and  thus  the  first 
definite  step  was  taken  towards  creating  a  Central 
Italian  state  to  form  the  nucleus  of  that  Medicean  empire 
in  Italy,  which  was  equally  the  fixed  desire  of  the  am- 
bitious Pontiff  and  of  his  greater  compatriot,  Machiavelli. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X 

Godiamo  d  il  Papato,  poicht  Dio  ci  F  ha  dato.  .  .  .  Je  crois  que  la 
etait  vraiment  sa  mission,  jouir  de  la  Papaute  dans  toutes  les  aises  de 
['intelligence,  et  toutes  les  satisfactions  du  gout.  II  n'etait  point 
politique ;  a  mon  sens  il  etait  plutot  encore  Athenien  que  catholique ; 
Athenes  d'abord,  Jerusalem  ensuite  (Armand  Braschet,  La  Diplo- 
matic Venitienne). 

IT  was  the  boast  of  succeeding  ages  that  the  first 
Medicean  Pope  in  his  reign  revived  the  sunken 
glories  of  classical  Rome  and  made  the  Eternal 
City  once  more  the  true  intellectual  and  artistic  centre 
of  the  western  world,  attracting  thither  every  poet 
and  scholar,  every  painter  and  sculptor,  every  scientist 
and  traveller  to  receive  a  warm  welcome  and  a  due  re- 
ward for  his  talents  or  his  services  to  mankind  at  the 
hands  of  the  Supreme  Pontiff.  Certain  it  is  that  the 
court  of  the  Vatican  under  Leo  X.  was  in  reality  the 
most  brilliant,  the  most  cultured,  and  withal  the  most 
extravagant  that  Europe  had  beheld  since  the  days  of 
Imperial  Rome,  and  that  Leo  himself  moved  perpetually 
in  an  atmosphere  of  flattery  and  splendour  such  as  no 
Pontiff  had  hitherto  experienced.  The  accession  indeed 
of  this  Medicean  prince,  in  whom  past  years  of  indigence 
and  obscurity  had  only  served  to  inflame  a  natural  taste 
for  art,  literature,  amusement  and  magnificence  in  every 
form,  opened  a  new  era  in  the  annals  of  Rome ;  an  era 

which  later  writers  have  not  without  reason  christened 

1 60 


THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X  161 

the  Leonine  Age ;  whilst  the  city  itself,  named  by  con- 
temporaries "the  Light  and  the  Stage  of  the  World," 
became  at  once  the  chosen  seat  of  fashion  and  of  learning, 
the  home  of  the  courtier  no  less  than  the  haunt  of  the 
poet.  Thus  was  Rome  under  Leo  X.  able  to  foreshadow 
the  position  held  by  Paris  during  the  most  splendid  years 
of  the  Roi  Soleil,  whose  personality  has  not  a  few  points 
in  common  with  that  of  the  first  Medicean  Pope.  Un- 
fortunately, magnificence  can  only  be  obtained  by 
reckless  profusion,  and  a  brilliant  court  has  ever  been 
shown  to  be  a  corrupt  one ;  indeed,  the  patronage  of 
Leo  X.  and  the  majesty  of  Louis  XIV.  proved  in  each 
case  a  fore-runner  of  disaster  and  humiliation  at  no  dis- 
tant date. 

Leo  may  almost  be  described  as  having  breathed  a 
literary  and  artistic  atmosphere  from  his  cradle.  The 
erstwhile  pupil  of  the  versatile  Politian  and  the  erudite 
Demetrius  of  Chalcedon,  and  the  son  of  a  poet,  Giovanni 
de'  Medici  had  not  only  been  at  an  early  age  accounted 
a  perfect  Latin  scholar,  but  also  an  enthusiastic  student 
of  Greek  letters ;  whilst  inherited  tastes  led  him  to 
appreciate  the  various  writings  in  the  Italian  vernacular, 
which  the  classical  pedants  of  that  age  affected  to  despise. 
He  had  a  passion  for  all  books  and  manuscripts,  both  in 
the  dead  and  living  languages,  and  these  he  devoured 
with  avidity,  remembering  and  quoting  their  contents 
out  of  an  excellent  memory.  In  Rome  he  had  long 
been  recognised  as  a  generous  patron  of  literature  in 
every  form,  and  many  a  needy  scholar  had  received  a 
\v;irm  welcome  at  the  Florentine  cardinal's  palace,  which 
latterly  contained  the  glorious  library  collected  by  his 
own  ancestors,  but  later  confiscated  by  the  Florentine 
Republic.  This  unique  library  the  Cardinal  had  by  some 
means  contrived  to  repurchase  in  1508,  in  which  year 


1 62  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

its  valuable  contents,  twice  paid  for  by  succeeding  Medici, 
were  brought  to  Rome  and  later  were  removed  to  the 
Vatican.  This  historic  collection,  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant and  interesting  in  the  world,  was  again  removed 
by  Clement  VII.  back  to  Florence  and  placed  in  a  build- 
ing near  the  church  of  San  Lorenzo,  specially  designed 
for  its  reception  by  Michelangelo  and  celebrated  to-day 
as  the  Laurentian  Library.  But  Leo  in  his  youth  had 
aspired  to  become  something  more  than  a  mere  patron, 
for  he  actually  attempted  to  compose  music  and  also  to 
produce  Latin  verses,  which  were  loudly  applauded  by 
the  partakers  of  his  bounty,  although  the  only  existing 
specimen  of  his  Muse  does  not  offer  much  either  of 
originality  of  thought  or  charm  of  diction.  Indeed,  the 
poem  in  question — an  ode  in  the  Iambic  metre  upon  an 
antique  statue  of  Lucretia,  excavated  in  some  Roman 
ruins — has  only  drawn  the  faintest  of  praise  from  Leo's 
enthusiastic  English  biographer,  who  criticises  his  hero's 
attempt  "as  affording  a  sufficient  proof,  that  if  he  had 
devoted  a  greater  share  of  his  attention  to  the  cultivation 
of  this  department  of  letters,  he  might  not  wholly  have 
despaired  of  success".1  But  the  worst  poet  often  makes 
the  best  of  patrons ;  and  the  election  of  Leo  X.  at  once 
aroused  the  warmest  speculation  in  the  minds  of  the 
learned  world  of  Rome,  of  Italy,  and  even  of  Europe. 
Nor  were  these  eager  hopes  doomed  to  disappointment, 
for  that  ideal  reign  of  Minerva,  for  which  poets  and 
scholars  had  long  been  sighing,  became  under  Leo  a 
reality  that  surpassed  the  wildest  dreams  of  the  Human- 
ists who  applauded  the  Conclave's  choice.  For  the 
pontificate  of  Leo  X.  was  in  very  truth  the  golden  age 
of  classical  learning  ;  an  age  wherein  scribblers  of  choice 

1  Roscoe,  vol.  ii.     See  Appendix  of  this  book,  where  Leo's  poem 
is  quoted  with  a  translation  into  English. 


THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X  163 

Latin  odes  or  composers  of  fulsome  epigrams  gained 
such  rewards  as  satisfied  the  most  conceited ;  an  age  of 
generous,  if  indiscriminate  and  undiscriminating  patronage ; 
an  elaborate  orgy  of  learning  and  pseudo-learning ;  a 
millenium  of  poets  and  poetasters,  of  triflers,  play-writers, 
musicians,  singers,  pedants  and  of  every  sort  of  personage 
who  could  amuse.  Real  native  genius  alone  suffered 
the  danger  of  neglect  in  this  ecclesiastical  Parnassus,  so 
that  men  are  nowadays  only  too  apt  to  remember  that 
the  three  chief  contemporary  writers  in  Italy — Ludovico 
Ariosto  the  poet,  Francesco  Guicciardini  the  historian, 
and  Niccolo  Machiavelli  the  unrivalled  statesman — ob- 
tained but  a  scanty  share  of  that  golden  stream  of  patron- 
age which  flowed  like  a  veritable  Pactolus  from  its  fount 
of  honour  at  the  Vatican.  Yet  Leo's  love  for  learning 
was  deep  and  sincere,  nor  was  his  liberality,  although  it 
failed  to  reach  Ariosto,  wholly  confined  to  those  medio- 
crities, the  Neo-Latinists,  whose  output  of  graceful  Latin 
verse  actually  exceeded  in  the  few  years  of  his  reign  the 
total  surviving  mass  of  genuine  classical  literature.  For 
it  was  Leo  who  called  the  great  Greek  professor  Lascaris 
to  Rome,  and  gave  every  opportunity  for  the  editing  and 
printing  of  the  masterpieces  of  ancient  Greece.  He  pro- 
tected the  Roman  Academy  and  revived  its  sunken 
glories ;  he  reorganised  the  University  of  Rome,  and 
conferred  such  benefits  upon  it  that  his  name  and  memory 
were  annually  kept  green  by  a  special  service  held  within 
its  precincts  for  nearly  four  centuries  ;  a  pious  practice 
which  only  ceased  in  modern  times  with  the  annexation 
of  Rome  to  the  Kingdom  of  Italy.1 

Almost  the  first  act  of  Leo,  dating  from  the  Conclave 
which  elected  him,  was  the  appointment  of  Pietro  Bembo 

1Lanciani,  p.  141. 


164  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

and  Jacopo  Sadoleto  as  papal  secretaries-of-state.  These 
two  writers,  both  favourable  specimens  of  the  scholar- 
ecclesiastic,  who  adorned  the  court  of  the  cultured  Leo, 
were  selected  for  this  high  position  on  account  of  their 
ripe  learning  and  elegant  Latin  rather  than  of  their  piety 
or  attention  to  duty.  But  though  guilty  of  moral  failings, 
which  the  age  laughed  at  rather  than  condemned  in  the 
case  of  a  court  prelate,  the  names  of  Bembo  and  Sadoleto 
undoubtedly  shed  a  lustre  on  the  reign  of  their  master, 
whom  they  served  well  and  faithfully  on  many  diplomatic 
missions,  and  whose  letters  and  despatches  they  com- 
posed in  the  choicest  of  Ciceronian  Latin.  The  high 
favour  shown  to  Bembo  and  Sadoleto  not  unnaturally 
aroused  the  envy  of  other  aspiring  Neo-Latinists,  who  in 
their  turn  easily  obtained  offices  and  preferment  by 
reason  of  their  learned  or  witty  conversation  and  their 
capacity  to  produce  poems  and  treatises  in  the  dead 
languages.  Thus  there  rose  to  fame  and  affluence  a  host 
of  persons  whose  names  alone  would  fill  many  pages, 
amongst  them  being  the  Neapolitan  poets,  Tebaldeo  and 
the  more  famous  Sannazzaro,  who  rated  himself  a  second 
and  superior  Vergil ;  Vida,  the  author  of  the  Ckristiad ; 
the  elegant  Molza  of  Modena  ;  Fracastoro,  the  bard- 
physician,  who  chose  a  most  unpleasant  theme  for  his 
principal  poem  ;  that  conceited  but  inferior  genius,  Ber- 
nardo Accolti  of  Arezzo,  "  the  Only  Aretine  " — £  Unico 
Aretino, — as  Ariosto  styled  him  at  a  court  which  would 
have  considered  crazy  anyone  daring  to  prefer  his  own 
impassioned  cantos  to  the  vapid  productions  of  Accolti. 
This  last  was  perhaps  the  favourite,  \heprimus  inter  pares, 
of  that  band  of  fawning  Neo-Latinists  on  whom  Leo  was 
wont  to  shower  bishoprics,  canonries,  governorships  and 
public  offices  of  all  kinds  ;  the  lucky  members  of  which 
sometimes  received  a  purse  of  five  hundred  pieces  of  gold 


THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X  165 

in  return  for  a  flattering-  epigram,  or  an  abbey  for  a  poem 
in  the  manner  of  Horace  or  Vergil  to  celebrate  a  day's 
hunting  in  the  Campagna.  1 1  was  an  age  that  mistook  the 
glitter  of  tinsel  for  pure  gold,  that  deliberately  preferred 
the  frigid  and  artificial  productions  of  an  Accolti  or  a 
Bembo  to  the  immortal  stanzas  of  an  Ariosto.  For  in 
spite  of  natural  talents,  which  the  harshest  critic  has  never 
dared  to  impugn,  Leo  in  his  pronounced  partiality  for  the 
Latin  tongue — that  bond  of  the  literary  brotherhood  of 
all  Europe — failed  to  distinguish  between  the  excellent 
and  the  mediocre  ;  he  could  pass  by  Ariosto's  appeals 
with  benevolent  but  condescending  praise,  yet  in  Accolti's 
case  he  must  needs  fling  open  the  doors  of  the  Vatican  to 
the  crowd  and  proclaim  a  general  holiday,  in  order  that 
the  citizens  of  Rome  might  not  lose  an  opportunity  of 
hearing  the  recitations  of  one  who  surpassed  all  the  poets 
of  antiquity  ;  he  could  bestow  a  friendly  kiss  on  the  cheek 
of  the  court-bard  of  Ferrara,1  but  the  gold  and  the  public 
appreciation  were  reserved  for  a  pompous  pedant  such  as 
"the  Only  Are  tine  ".  And  in  this  case  Leo's  neglect  of 
his  old  friend  Ariosto  must  be  adjudged  ungrateful  as  well 
as  ungenerous  ; — "until  the  time  when  he  went  to  Rome 
to  be  made  a  leo"  writes  the  poet  with  suppressed  bitter- 
ness in  his  Fourth  Satire,  "  I  was  always  agreeable  to 
him,  and  he  himself  apparently  loved  few  better  than  my- 
self. .  .  .  Whilst  the  Lion  was  a  whelp,  he  fondled  his 
playmate  the  spaniel,  but  when  he  arrived  at  lion's  estate, 
he  found  so  many  foxes  and  wolves  about  his  den,  that 
he  cared  little  for  his  former  playfellow. "  Various  theories 
have  been  propounded  to  account  for  the  Pope's  cold- 
ness towards  the  first  Italian  poet  of  his  age,  and  certain 
writers  have  affected  to  find  its  true  explanation  in 

1 "  La  mano  e  poi  le  gote  ambe  mi  prese.    E'  1  santo  bacio  in  1'  una 
e  1'  altra  diede." 


1 66  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Ariosto's  political  attachment  to  the  House  of  Este  rather 
than  in  an  obvious  lack  of  understanding  of  the  merits  of 
the  Orlando  F'urioso.  But  whatever  the  cause,  it  remains 
an  indisputable  fact,  that  whilst  the  Vidas,  the  Beroaldos 
and  the  Accoltis  found  ample  encouragement  and  wealth 
at  Leo's  court,  the  great  poet  of  Ferrara  was  soon  made 
to  realise  that  his  presence  in  Rome  was  superfluous,  if 
not  irksome  to  the  Papal  Maecenas.  With  regard  to 
Guicciardini,  as  a  prominent  compatriot  and  a  supporter 
of  the  Medici,  the  Florentine  Livy  obtained  high  diplo- 
matic posts,  although  his  talents  as  a  historian  were 
ignored.  Concerning  Leo's  recognition  of  Machiavelli's 
unique  genius,  we  have  only  to  record  that  such  little 
attention  as  he  received  proceeded  from  the  Cardinal 
Giulio  de'  Medici  rather  than  from  the  Pope.  And  the 
same  want  of  sympathy  is  to  be  observed  in  the  case  of 
the  leading  scholar  outside  Italy,  for  notwithstanding  the 
court  paid  him  by  Erasmus,  who  dedicated  his  famous 
Greek  Testament  to  the  Pontiff,  Leo  ever  refrained  from 
inviting  the  greatest  of  the  Humanists  to  Rome  ;  in  spite 
too  of  the  latter 's  unmistakable  hints  for  such  a  favour. 
For  in  April,  1515,  Erasmus  had  written  a  long  letter  to 
the  Pontiff,  first  excusing  himself  for  his  assurance  in  ad- 
dressing "one  who  is  as  high  above  Mankind,  as  is  Man- 
kind above  the  brutes  "  ;  and  concluding  with  the  words, 
"  Oh,  that  it  were  granted  me  to  throw  myself  at  your 
most  holy  feet  and  imprint  a  kiss  thereon ! "  But 
although  Erasmus  was  obviously  so  anxious  to  visit  Rome 
and  often  spoke  of  his  longing  to  return  thither,  his  desi- 
derium  Romae,  His  Holiness  did  little  for  him  beyond 
accepting  graciously  the  dedication  of  Erasmus'  Testa- 
ment and  giving  him  a  letter  to  Henry  VIII.  of  England. 
Even  granting,  therefore,  that  Leo's  indifference  to  the 


THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X  167 

claims  of  Erasmus,  Machiavelli,  Guicciardini  and  Ariosto 
has  been  unfairly  pressed  by  some  modern  critics,  the 
simple  fact  remains  that  the  four  leading  men  of  letters 
of  that  age  received  scant  attention  and  less  recom- 
pense in  the  golden  days  of  Pope  Leo  X. 

Ranking  below  the  classical  scholars  and  literary 
prelates  of  the  court,  but  almost  equally  favoured  by 
this  Papal  Maecenas,  were  the  musicians,  buffoons  and 
improvvisatori.  "It  is  difficult  to  judge,"  remarks 
the  satirist,  Pietro  Aretino,  who  accepted  Leo's  bounty 
for  some  years,  "whether  the  merits  of  the  learned  or 
the  tricks  of  the  fools  afforded  most  delight  to  His 
Holiness."  In  the  science  of  music  Leo,  who  possessed 
a  correct  ear  as  well  as  a  pleasing  voice,  displayed  an 
intense  interest,  sometimes  even  himself  condescending 
to  take  part  in  ditties,  on  which  occasions  he  used  in- 
variably to  bestow  purses  of  gold  upon  his  lucky  fellow- 
performers ; — "when  he  sings  with  anyone,  he  presents 
him  with  200  ducats  and  even  more " ;  so  writes  the 
Venetian  ambassador  to  his  government.  But  usually 
Leo  preferred  to  listen  in  a  state  of  dreamy  rapture, 
softly  humming  the  melody  to  himself  and  gently 
waving  a  white  be-jewelled  hand  in  response  to  the 
rhythm  of  the  song  or  to  the  delicate  strains  of  Brando- 
lini's  violin.  For  Raffaele  Brandolini,  the  blind  musician 
and  improvvisatore,  was  a  particular  favourite  with  Leo 
—"he  was  the  apple  of  the  Pope's  eye" — and  it  was 
one  of  the  patron's  delights  to  arrange  friendly  contests 
between  Brandolini  and  another  violin-player,  Marone 
of  Brescia,  whose  interesting  face  is  so  well  known  to 
us  from  Raphael's  beautiful  portrait.1  Both  these 
musicians  ranked  likewise  as  the  leading  improvvisatori 
of  the  court,  where  they  were  wont  to  practise  that  art 

1  Formerly  in  the  gallery  of  the  Sciarra-Colonna  Palace,  Rome. 


1 68  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

of  giving  expression  to  poetical  feeling  in  impromptu 
verse  which  is  peculiar  to  Italy,  and  was  at  that  date 
especially  appreciated  by  the  Florentines.  Leo,  like 
his  father  before  him,  loved  these  duels  of  wit  and 
poetry,  which  sometimes  took  the  form  of  spoken  argu- 
ments in  Latin  elegiacs  ;  indeed,  the  Pontiff  himself  on 
more  than  one  occasion  proved  himself  as  skilful  in  these 
contests  as  any  professional  member  of  his  court.  This 
curious  Italian  art  probably  reached  its  height  of  elegance, 
and  also  of  abuse,  at  the  gay  court  of  Leo,  who  not  only 
applauded  the  choice  extemporary  verses  and  sweet 
melodies  of  Marone  and  Brandolini,  but  loved  likewise 
to  extract  uproarious  fun  from  the  efforts  of  their  feebler 
and  less  refined  imitators.  An  unfortunate  creature, 
Camillo  Querno  by  name,  but  universally  termed  the 
Arch-Poet,  who  had  composed  a  ridiculous  epic  of 
twenty  thousand  lines  and  had  been  formally  crowned 
in  derision  by  the  wits  of  the  Roman  Academy  with  a 
wreath  of  laurel,  cabbage  and  vine  leaves  in  allusion  to 
his  bad  verses  and  his  drunken  habits,  was  occasionally 
invited  to  improvise  at  the  Pope's  table.  Plied  with 
strong  wines  till  he  could  scarce  stand  upright  and  be- 
sought to  spout  his  halting  hexameters,  the  poor  wretch 
was  continually  insulted  and  quizzed  in  the  presence  of 
His  Holiness,  who  even  stooped  on  one  occasion  to 
bandy  repartee  with  Querno.  Turning  towards  the 
Arch-Poet,  already  hopelessly  intoxicated,  the  Pontiff 
in  his  blandest  manner  begged  him  to  repeat  an  im- 
promptu hexameter. 

"  Archipoeta  facit  versus  pro  mille  poetis," 
(Worthy  a  thousand  poets  thine  Arch-Bard,) 

hiccoughed  Querno  in  reply  to  the  Pope's  challenge ; 
whereupon  Leo  at  once  observed  with  mock  severity— 


THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X  169 

"  Et  pro  mille  aliis  Archipoeta  bibit." 
(Of  all  the  poets  none  e'er  drank  so  hard.) 

With  throat  parched  from  his  recent  recitation,  the  Arch- 
Poet  next  addressed  his  host  thus  :— 

"  Porrige  quod  faciat  mihi  carmina  docta  Falernum  "  ; 
(Grant  me  good  wine  to  make  my  songs  more  sweet ;) 

to  which   sentiment    Leo  retorted   in  tones  of  solemn 
warning  :— - 

"  Hoc  enim  enervat  debilitatque  pedes." 
(Wine  enervates  the  brain  and  clogs  the  feet.) l 

This  spectacle  of  the  tipsy  Arch- Poet  being  chaffed 
by  "the  Jupiter  of  Earth,"  "the  Thunderer  of  the 
Vatican,"  "the  Thirteenth  Apostle"  (as  one  clerical 
flatterer  did  not  scruple  to  address  the  first  Medicean 
Pope),  does  not  afford  us  an  edifying  picture  of  the 
Roman  court ;  but  that  love  of  low  buffoonery  and  in- 
satiable craving  for  amusement,  which  seem  to  have  been 
innate  both  in  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent  and  in  his 
second  son,  were  destined  to  lead  the  Pontiff  into  yet 
more  outrageous  follies.  A  certain  Baraballo,  a  priest 
of  Gaeta  and  a  man  of  good  family  and  reputation,  was 
unhappily  for  his  own  peace  of  mind  an  indifferent 
spinner  of  rhymes,  who  fancied  his  own  feeble  composi- 
tions fully  equal  to  those  of  Petrarch,  and  therefore  worthy 
of  special  recognition  from  the  Supreme  Pontiff. 

Arrived  in  Rome,  the  foolish  Baraballo  openly  an- 
nounced the  true  cause  of  his  visit,  whereupon  the 
courtiers,  scenting  the  possibility  of  a  merry  escapade  at 
the  expense  of  the  poet's  conceit  and  incapacity,  at  once 
set  to  flatter  the  vain  aspirant  to  the  top  of  their  bent. 
A  public  coronation  on  the  Roman  Capitol,  argued  they, 

1  Fabroni,  pp.   163,   164.     Roscoe,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  224,  225,  note 


iyo  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

such  as  Petrarch  had  once  received,  could  scarcely  afford 
sufficient  recompense  to  such  a  Heaven-sent  genius,  and 
the  foolish  old  fellow  swallowed  all  this  nonsense  -with- 
out for  a  moment  perceiving  how  the  whole  court  from 
the  Pope  downward  was  giggling  with  suppressed  mirth 
at  the  crude  and  inane  verses  he  was  made  daily  to  re- 
cite. Finally,  Leo  himself  with  honeyed  words  of  en- 
couragement persuaded  the  conceited  poet  to  demand  a 
coronation  on  the  Capitol,  such  as  had  been  conceded  to 
his  master,  or  rather  fore-runner,  the  divine  Petrarch. 
In  spite  of  the  entreaties  of  his  horrified  family,  who  saw 
with  shame  and  indignation  the  mean  trick  that  was 
being  played  on  their  elderly  relative,  Baraballo's  self- 
sufficiency  was  so  boundless  that  he  fell  easily  into  the 
cruel  trap  prepared  for  him.  He  even  listened  to  the 
Pope's  suggestion  that  the  elephant,  which  King 
Manuel  I.  of  Portugal  had  recently  sent  as  a  present 
to  His  Holiness  and  the  like  of  which  had  not  been  seen 
in  Rome  since  the  days  of  the  Empire,  should  be  gorge- 
ously caparisoned  for  this  very  purpose,  so  that  the  unique 
bard  might  ride  on  the  unique  quadruped  from  the  Vatican 
to  the  Capitol,  where  the  coveted  laurel  wreath  awaited 
him.  All  Rome  hastened  to  be  present  at  so  strange 
an  exhibition ;  the  windows  and  terraces  of  the  Vatican 
were  filled  with  cardinals,  nobles  and  prelates,  all  striving 
to  conceal  their  pent-up  mirth;  whilst  "the  Jupiter  of 
Earth  "  himself,  seated  in  a  convenient  balcony,  smilingly 
surveyed  the  animated  scene  through  his  spy-glass. 
With  some  difficulty  the  latter-day  Petrarch,  clad  in  a 
scarlet  toga  fringed  with  gold,  was  lifted  into  a  richly 
decorated  saddle  on  the  animal's  back,  and  his  sandalled 
feet  thrust  into  a  pair  of  gilded  stirrups.  The  merriment 
of  court  and  populace  alike  was  now  at  its  height ;  the 
affair  was,  in  fact,  the  extreme  triumph  of  Renaissance 


THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X  171 

practical  joking.  "I  could  never  have  believed,"  writes 
Paolo  Giovio,  who  was  an  eye-witness  both  of  the 
splendours  and  the  follies  of  the  Leonine  Age  as  well  as 
of  the  horrors  of  the  sack  of  Rome  which  succeeded  them, 
— "  I  could  never  have  believed  in  such  an  incident,  if  I 
had  not  seen  it  myself  and  actually  laughed  at  it :  the 
spectacle  of  an  old  man  of  sixty  bearing  an  honoured 
name,  stately  and  venerable  in  appearance,  hoary-headed, 
riding  upon  an  elephant  to  the  sound  of  trumpets ! " 
For  to  the  accompaniment  of  music  and  the  now  unre- 
strained laughter  of  the  whole  assembly,  this  strange 
procession  with  Baraballo  in  antique  festal  robes,  perched 
proudly  aloft  on  an  Indian  elephant  led  by  its  impassive 
oriental  keeper,  began  its  progress  towards  the  Capitol, 
where  the  eager  poet  looked  to  receive  the  expected 
crown  of  merit.  But  the  shouts  of  the  populace,  the 
braying  of  the  trumpets,  and  the  general  absurdity  of 
the  whole  proceeding  so  alarmed  the  sagacious  beast, 
which  certainly  owned  more  sense  than  the  rider  on  its 
back,  that  it  positively  refused  to  cross  the  bridge  at 
Sant'  Angelo,  whereupon  Baraballo  was  forced  to  dis- 
mount amidst  roars  of  laughter  from  the  Pope  to  the 
meanest  street-urchin.2  So  tickled  with  this  feat  was  the 
merry  Pope,  that  he  at  once  commissioned  Gian  Barile, 
who  was  then  engaged  in  carving  the  beautiful  doors 
and  shutters  in  the  Vatican,  to  introduce  the  elephant's 
picture  into  the  cornice  he  was  at  that  moment  design- 

1  Jovius,  lib.  iv. 

2  Alexander  Pope  confuses  and  combines  the  two  separate  in- 
cidents connected  with  Querno  and  Baraballo  : — 

"  Not  with  more  glee,  by  hands  pontific  crowned, 
With  scarlet  hats  wide  waving  circled  round, 
Rome  in  her  Capitol  saw  QUERNO  sit 
Throned  on  seven  hills,  the  Antichrist  of  wit !  " 

(The  Dunciad,  book  ii.,  13-16.) 


1 72  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

ing,  and  even  the  Prince  of  Painters  was  requested  to 
confer  immortality  by  his  brush  upon  Baraballo's  steed. 
It  is  not  surprising,  however,  to  learn  that  graver  men  in 
Rome,  particularly  foreign  ambassadors  and  chance 
visitors,  were  not  a  little  scandalised  by  this  elaborately 
planned  and  unfeeling  jest,  as  well  as  at  the  plain  cir- 
cumstance that  the  most  august  personage  in  Christen- 
dom could  obtain  satisfaction  out  of  such  frivolity.  Yet 
Leo  was  a  true  Florentine,  and  this  disagreeable  type  of 
practical  joking  was  prevalent  in  his  native  city,  where 
even  at  the  present  day  a  carefully  prepared  hoax  at  the 
expense  of  a  conceited  compatriot  is  reckoned  as  the 
highest  form  of  human  wit ;  nor  are  recent  instances  of 
this  antiquated  form  of  elaborate  and  heartless  merriment 
wanting  in  the  provincial  town  which  was  once  the 
capital  of  Tuscany. 

Another  markedly  Florentine  trait  in  the  Pope's 
character  was  his  intense  and  never-failing  delight  in 
the  antics  and  jests  of  dwarfs  and  buffoons,  numbers  of 
whom  haunted  the  Vatican,  where  every  description  of 
silly  prank  was  played  upon  human  beings  who  are 
nowadays  regarded  as  the  objects  of  pity  rather  than  of 
sport.  Taste  in  viands  and  in  amusement  has  changed 
so  completely,  that  it  is  difficult  to  realise  that  in  Leo's 
days  the  presence  of  the  half-crazy  or  the  deformed  at 
the  banquet  was  reckoned  fully  as  essential  as  the  strange 
indigestible  dishes  that  no  modern  palate  would  tolerate. 
Many  and  many  a  time  was  the  Pope's  table  set  in  a 
roar  by  the  sight  of  these  hungry  sycophants  greedily 
devouring  carrion  that  had  been  disguised  in  rich  sauces 
under  the  impression  they  were  eating  choice  meats 
daintily  prepared ;  or  by  the  dexterity  of  some  brutal 
courtier,  who  had  contrived  to  hit  one  of  these  poor 
creatures  full  in  the  face  with  a  bone  or  a  hot  batter 


CARVED   SHUTTER   WITH    MED1CEAN    EMBLEMS 


IN    THE    VATICAN 


THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X  173 

pudding ; l  even  the  very  lacqueys  were  permitted  to 
pander  to  their  masters'  perverted  sense  of  the  ridicu- 
lous by  teasing  and  bullying  these  papal  parasites. 

On  a  higher  plane  than  these  buffoons  was  the  arch- 
jester  of  the  court,  the  redoubtable  Fra  Mariano  Fetti, 
a  personage  of  some  distinction,  since  he  had  succeeded 
the  great  architect  Bramante  in  the  office  of #/UfM&dtor, 
or  keeper  of  the  papal  seals  :  an  appointment  that  natur- 
ally had  raised  most  unfavourable  comment  in  exalted 
quarters.  This  strange  friar,  who  to  a  certain  extent  pos- 
sessed the  same  contradictory  nature  as  his  master,  is  said 
to  have  been  originally  a  barber  in  the  household  of 
Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  and  later  to  have  been  con- 
verted to  a  serious  view  of  life  by  the  sermons  of 
Savonarola.  Entering  the  Dominican  fraternity  as  a 
lay -brother,  Fra  Mariano  became  for  a  time  one  of  the 
most  prominent  of  the  Piagnoni,  or  "  Snivellers,"  as  the 
more  ardent  of  the  followers  of  the  prior  of  San  Marco 
were  contemptuously  nicknamed ;  but  it  is  evident 
that  by  the  time  Leo  X.  ascended  the  papal  throne,  all 
the  good  effects  of  a  religious  revival  had  long  vanished. 
His  coarse  but  amusing  sayings,  his  witty  insolence 
towards  the  grandees  of  Rome  and  his  insatiable  appetite 
at  table  all  combined  to  tickle  the  Pope's  thoroughly 
Tuscan  sense  of  humour,  so  that  <(the  Cowled  Buffoon" 
—II  Buffone  cucullato — soon  grew  to  be  a  prominent 
and  even  an  influential  member  of  the  Roman  court, 
where  his  magic  gift  of  arousing  Leo's  merriment  or  of 
removing  his  wrath  at  any  moment  and  under  any 

1  "  The  Arch-poet  was  so  disfigured  by  a  wound  given  him  in 
the  face  by  some  person  who  had  taken  offence  at  his  intemperance 
and  gluttony,  that  he  was  deterred  from  attending  the  banquets  of  the 
Pontiff  so  frequently  as  he  had  before  been  accustomed  to  do " 
(Roscoe,  vol.  ii.,  p.  225). 


174  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

circumstances  was  of  such  obvious  value  that  many  an 
intending  suppliant  found  it  well  worth  his  while  to 
gain  the  Prate's  good-will.  He  is  said  to  have  eaten 
forty  eggs  at  a  sitting  in  order  to  win  a  smile  from  His 
Holiness  ;  and  he  was  the  constant  butt  of  the  younger 
cardinals  at  the  hunting-parties  at  La  Magliana  or  Palo. 
Yet  Fra  Mariano  was  in  reality  no  fool,  seeing  that  he 
was  also  the  discerning  patron  of  that  great  master,  Fra 
Bartolommeo,  who  adored  this  strange  being,  as  well  as 
of  the  artist  Baldassare  Peruzzi,  who  by  his  orders 
decorated  a  beautiful  chapel  in  the  church  of  San 
Silvestro,  adjoining  the  Dominican  convent  wherein  the 
Cowled  Buffoon  usually  resided.  It  would  not  prove 
a  difficult  task  to  moralise  at  length  upon  the  curious 
character  of  Fra  Mariano  and  upon  this  highly  un- 
pleasant aspect  of  Leo's  court  and  daily  life,  as  also 
upon  the  sharp  contrast  afforded  by  the  Pope's  praise- 
worthy patronage  of  letters  and  the  fine  arts  thus 
counterbalanced  by  the  gross  pleasure  derived  from 
such  disgusting  exhibitions  of  human  folly  and  weakness. 
But  the  Medici  was  a  true  child  of  his  age ;  a  true 
Florentine  in  his  tastes.  Moreover,  every  prince,  and 
almost  every  prelate,  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  possessed 
in  varying  degree  the  same  love  of  letters,  art,  amuse- 
ment and  ribaldry ;  it  was  Leo's  peculiar  fault  that  he 
allowed  his  natural  bent  for  frivolity  and  low  company 
to  obtain  an  undue  ascendancy  in  the  daily  life  of  his 
court.1 

Far  less  culpable  than  this  passion  for  silly  jesting 
was  Leo's  delight  in  dramatic  performances,  the  proper 
development  of  which  was  not  a  little  enhanced  by  his 
patronage.  The  Sophonisba  of  Gian-Giorgio  Trissino 

1  Pastor,  chap,  x.,  pp.  350-424;  Jovius,  lib.  iv. ;  Roscoe,  vol.  ii., 
chap,  xvii.,  etc.,  etc. 


THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X  175 

and  the  Rosmunda  of  his  own  cousin,  Giovanni  Rucellai 
—two  of  the  earliest  of  historical  tragedies  in  blank  verse 
(versi  scolti]  and  therefore  the  Italian  fore-runners  of  the 
Shakespearean  plays — had  drawn  the  highest  of  praise 
from  the  fastidious  Leo,  whose  perpetual  craving  for 
amusement,  however,  led  him  to  prefer  the  broad  comedies 
of  Ariosto,  Machiavelli  and  the  Cardinal  Bibbiena.  The 
last-named,  as  the  author  of  the  Calandria,  has  some- 
times been  styled  "the  Father  of  Italian  comedy," 
although  the  real  merit  of  invention  undoubtedly  rests 
with  Ariosto,  who  had  already  written  the  Cassaria  and 
the  Suppositi  some  years  before  the  Cardinal  composed 
his  all-too-famous  farce.  The  author  of  the  Calandria, 
which  is  largely  adapted  from  a  classical  model,  the 
Menoechmi  of  Plautus,  in  the  prologue  excuses  his  use 
of  the  Italian  language  ; — "  because  the  tongue  that  God 
and  Nature  have  given  us  is  worthy  of  no  less  esteem 
than  Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew" — a  patriotic  sentiment 
which  can  hardly  have  been  relished  by  the  many 
pedantic  Neo-Latinists  who  witnessed  it.  The  plot 
of  the  play,  which  was  arranged  to  suit  existing  conditions 
of  life  in  Italy,  centres  round  the  crass  stupidity  of  a 
certain  Calandro,  desperately  in  love  with  a  charming 
girl,  who  has  a  twin-brother  so  closely  resembling  her- 
self in  voice,  figure  and  general  appearance,  that  the 
eager  lover  is  completely  mystified,  when  sister  and 
brother  for  a  freak  exchange  their  garments.  The 
delicate  situations,  most  indelicately  treated,  that  are 
caused  by  this  premeditated  confusion  form  the  chief 
incidents  of  the  Cardinal's  play,  which  is  full  of  the 
coarsest  of  Tuscan  humour  and  "little  more  than  a  farce 
stuffed  with  gross  and  obscene  jests".1  Yet  with  the 
best  actors  procurable  to  present  the  piece,  with  the 

ri,  vol.  ii.,  p.  341. 


1 76  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

illustrious  author  himself  superintending,  with  the  first 
artists  of  the  day  engaged  to  arrange  and  paint  the  stage- 
scenery,  and  with  a  brilliant  audience  composed  largely 
of  Florentines,  it  is  easy  to  understand  how  the  Calandria 
was  received  with  rapturous  applause  when  it  was  acted 
at  the  Vatican  for  the  special  entertainment  of  Isabella 
d'  Este  in  the  autumn  of  1514.  For  it  was  not  only 
the  absurdity  and  nastiness  of  the  comedy  that  entranced 
the  Pope,  his  guest  the  Marchioness  of  Mantua,  and  the 
cardinals,  courtiers,  prelates  and  maids-of-honour,  but 
likewise  the  excellent  acting,  the  interludes  of  choice 
music,  and  most  of  all  the  marvellous  and  novel  effects 
of  perspective,  which  Baldassare  Peruzzi  had  introduced 
into  the  scene-painting  and  which  in  after-years  drew  a 
well-merited  tribute  of  praise  from  Giorgio  Vasari,  the 
Plutarch  of  Italian  painters.  Since,  therefore,  the  Calan- 
dria may  fairly  be  ranked  as  the  first  comedy,  acted  in 
the  vulgar  tongue,  adapted  to  the  uses  and  customs  of  the 
day,  and  fitted  with  proper  stage  effects  and  accessories, 
Vasari's  brief  description  of  this  historic  performance  at 
the  Vatican  ought  not  to  be  omitted  here  : — 

"  When  the  Calandria,  a  drama  written  by  the 
Cardinal  da  Bibbiena,  was  performed  before  Pope  Leo, 
Baldassare  prepared  all  the  scenic  arrangements  for  that 
spectacle  in  a  manner  no  less  beautiful'.  .  .  and  his 
labours  of  this  kind  deserve  all  the  more  praise  from  the 
fact  that  these  performances  of  the  theatre  had  long 
been  out  of  use,  the  festivals  and  sacred  dramas  having 
taken  their  place.  But  either  before  or  after  the  re- 
presentation of  the  Calandria,  which  was  one  of  the  first 
comedies  seen  or  recited  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  in  the 
time  of  Pope  Leo  X.,  that  is  to  say,  Baldassare  painted 
two  of  these  scenic  decorations,  which  were  surprisingly 
beautiful,  and  which  opened  the  way  to  those  of  a 


THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X  177 

similar  kind,  which  have  been  made  in  our  own  day. 
Now  it  appears  difficult  ever  to  imagine  how  this  artist 
has  found  it  possible,  within  the  closely  limited  space  to 
which  he  was  restricted,  how  he  has  found  it  possible,  I 
say,  to  exhibit  such  a  variety  of  objects  as  he  has  depicted  ; 
such  a  number  of  streets,  palaces,  temples,  toggle  and 
fanciful  erections  of  all  kinds,  so  perfectly  represented 
that  they  do  not  look  like  things  feigned,  but  are  as  the 
living  reality.  Neither  does  the  piazza,  which  is  the 
site  of  all  these  edifices,  appear  to  be,  as  it  is,  a  narrow 
space  merely  painted,  but  looks  entirely  real  and  of  noble 
extent.  In  the  arrangement  of  the  lights  also,  Baldassare 
showed  equal  ability  in  those  of  the  interior,  which  are 
designed  to  enhance  the  effect  of  the  views  in  perspective 
more  especially.  Every  other  requisite  demanded  for 
the  occasion  was  added  with  similar  judgment,  and  this 
is  the  more  remarkable,  because  the  habit  of  preparing 
such  things,  as  I  have  said,  had  been  totally  lost."1 

The  marked  success  of  the  Calandria  paved  the 
way  for  further  representations  of  sprightly  but  indecent 
farces,  which  even  included  a  performance  in  the  year 
1519  of  Machiavelli's  Mandragola  (sometimes  called  the 
Nicias),  which  is  still  accounted  one  of  the  most  witty 
comedies  ever  written  in  the  Italian  tongue,  although  its 
main  action  revolves  around  a  plot  that  is  absolutely 
revolting  to  modern  taste.2  The  fun,  moreover,  that  the 
great  Florentine  satirist  openly  pokes  at  the  hypocrisy 
and  covetousness  of  the  Italian  clergy  would  seem  to 

1Vasari,  Life  of  Baldassare  Peruzzi  of  Siena,  Bohn's  edition,  vol. 
iii.,  pp.  165,  166. 

2  Performances  of  the  Mandragola  (to  which  young  persons  are 
never  admitted)  are  still  given  in  Machiavelli's  own  city  of  Florence, 
where  his  masterpiece  was  acted  in  the  autumn  of  1906.  For  an 
English  appreciation  of  the  Mandragola,  see  Lord  Macaulay's  Essay 
on  Machiavelli. 


12 


I78  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

mark  this  drama  as  more  likely  to  offend  than  to  amuse 
the  chief  priest  of  Christendom ;  yet  we  learn  on  the 
authority  of  Paolo  Giovio  that  the  reported  success  of 
the  Mandragola  in  Florence  and  its  perusal  in  manuscript 
induced  Leo  to  command  a  repetition  of  the  play  in 
Rome,  with  the  same  Florentine  actors  and  the  same  set 
of  stage  scenery,  "in  order  that  the  City  might  also 
participate  in  its  delights " ;  these  delights  including  of 
course  the  amusing  but  shameless  sayings  of  its  leading 
character,  Fra  Timoteo,  the  canting  parish-priest.1 
Nevertheless,  Leo  X.  was  a  true  son  of  his  House,  the 
very  personification  of  the  versatile  spirit  of  his  native 
Florence,  so  that  in  his  particular  case  nothing,  however 
incredible,  could  be  deemed  impossible,  although  if  any 
further  proof  were  needed  to  testify  to  the  appalling  and 
universal  corruption  of  Italian  society,  priestly  and  secular, 
it  would  be  found  in  the  circumstance  that  this  cynical 
exposure,  in  the  guise  of  comedy,  of  rottenness  in  Church 
and  State  was  permitted  openly  with  the  approval  of  the 
Supreme  Pontiff.  Less  objectionable,  if  less  witty  than 
Machiavelli's  famous  farce,  was  Ariosto's  Suppositi, 
which  by  papal  command  was  represented  on  a  cele- 
brated occasion  in  the  great  hall  of  the  castle  of  Sant' 
Angelo  on  the  Sunday  preceding  the  Carnival  of  1519, 
within  a  few  weeks,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  young  Lorenzo's 
death  and  of  the  consequent  extinction  of  Leo's  own 
family.  The  immense  frescoed  saloon  was  crowded  with 
a  jostling  audience  of  bishops  and  priests,  of  courtiers  and 
nobles,  so  that  even  the  ambassadors  with  their  trains 
came  to  be  hustled  somewhat  in  the  assembly,  which  is 
said  to  have  numbered  nearly  two  thousand  persons. 
Seated  on  a  dais  above  the  struggling  throng  of  his 
guests,  the  Pope  from  beginning  to  end  expressed  his 

1  Villari,  vol.  ii.,  p.  342,  note  2. 


THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X  179 

liveliest  satisfaction  in  the  entertainment.  First  extend- 
ing his  hand  in  benediction  above  the  distinguished 
crowd  below,  His  Holiness  after  making  a  prolonged  ex- 
amination of  the  drop-scene  which  concealed  the  stage, 
suddenly  burst  into  unrestrained  mirth,  as  his  spy-glass 
revealed  to  him  a  clever  representation  from  the  brush 
of  Raphael  of  poor  Fra  Mariano  being  teased  by  a 
number  of  tiny  devils  with  horns,  hoofs  and  spiky  tails. 
To  the  softest  strains  of  music  the  painted  curtain  was 
then  slowly  raised,  whereupon  the  stage  appeared  to 
view,  fantastically  lighted  by  means  of  numerous  lamps 
placed  in  clusters  so  as  to  form  the  official  papal  cipher. 
But  more  effective  than  this  artistic  illumination  was  the 
scenery  itself,  for  the  divine  Raphael  had  been  actively 
employed  in  painting  a  picture  of  the  town  of  Ferrara, 
which  must  have  eclipsed  easily  the  earlier  marvels  of 
his  inferior  rival,  Peruzzi.  After  gazing  long  and  lovingly 
at  this  triumph  of  scenic  art,  the  Pope's  attention  was 
next  attracted  by  the  appearance  on  the  boards  of  a 
herald,  who  recited  a  prologue,  so  comical  that  it  sent 
the  papal  court  into  hearty  fits  of  laughter,  and  so  highly 
indecorous  that  the  foreign  envoys,  even  those  of  the 
Italian  states,  were  quite  scandalised; — "what  a  pity 
such  an  unseemly  prologue  should  be  spoken  in  the 
presence  of  so  august  a  sovereign ! "  was  the  comment 
of  the  none-too-particular  Alfonso  Paolucci,  the  re- 
presentative of  Ferrara  at  the  papal  court.  In  the  play 
itself,  however,  which  as  the  work  of  his  own  compatriot, 
Messer  Ludovico  Ariosto,  this  Ferrarese  censor  of  Roman 
morals  was  bound  to  admire,  Paolucci  found  nothing  ob- 
jectionable, which  was  fortunate,  since  Innocenzo  Cybb, 
Leo's  own  nephew  and  youngest  cardinal,  was  actually 
taking  a  prominent  part  in  the  dialogue.  Paolucci 
likewise  admired  the  dances  and  the  moresca  with  which 


i8o  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

the  entertainment  concluded ;  also  the  incidental  music, 
and  particularly  the  sweet  tones  of  an  organ  that  the 
Cardinal  of  Aragon  had  lately  presented  to  His  Holiness, 
—"although  they  were  not  to  be  compared  with  the 
performances  at  your  Majesty's  own  court  of  Ferrara  ". 
Perhaps  the  Ferrarese  envoy's  praise  would  have  been 
less  faint  had  he  not  nearly  broke  his  leg,  in  spite  of  the 
Pope's  preliminary  benediction,  in  the  ugly  scramble 
that  ensued  at  the  close  of  the  entertainment,  whilst  the 
vast  audience  was  forcing  its  way  into  an  adjoining 
room  where  a  splendid  collation  was  laid  out  for  the 
papal  guests  ;  even  a  pleasant  conversation  at  the  supper- 
table  with  the  Cardinals  of  Aragon  and  Salviati,  who 
of  course  lauded  Messer  Ariosto  to  the  skies  before  his 
countryman,  failed  to  remove  Paolucci's  chagrin.1 

Performances  of  the  newly-invented  comedy  appear 
however  somewhat  rare  when  compared  with  the  fre- 
quent masques,  ballets,  processions,  mummings  and 
moresche,  which  the  new  dramatic  revival  was  destined 
later  to  supplant  in  popular  favour.  These  older-fashioned 
diversions  were  constantly  given  on  the  most  lavish  scale, 
especially  at  Carnival  time  or  during  any  state  visit  to 
the  city,  which  was  thus  ever  kept  interested  and  amused 
in  accordance  with  the  policy  formerly  pursued  by  Lorenzo 
the  Magnificent  in  Florence.  Nevertheless  the  moresca 
and  the  ballet  were  sometimes  made  the  vehicle  for  ex- 
pressions of  popular  opinion,  since  Leo's  notorious  levity 
and  intense  sense  of  humour  served  to  embolden  the 
contrivers  of  these  entertainments,  who  thus  wished  to 
notify  their  views  on  passing  questions  of  the  day.  In- 
stead of  a  trite  classical  theme,  such  as  the  Labours  of 
Hercules  or  the  story  of  Ariadne,  some  burning  topic  of 

1Reumont,  Geschichte  der  Stadt  Rom,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  133,  134; 
Pastor,  chap,  x.,  etc. 


THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X  181 

the  hour  would  be  treated  in  an  allegorical  fashion,  and 
the  easy-going  Pope  led  to  draw  his  own  conclusions 
from  the  incidents  represented.  Perhaps  the  most  re- 
markable of  these  mummings  with  a  purpose  was  a  certain 
moresca  undertaken  by  Sienese  actors  in  the  courtyard 
of  Sant'  Angelo  during  the  spring  of  the  very  year  that 
witnessed  Leo's  own  death.  The  schism  of  Luther  and 
the  subsequent  religious  struggle  in  Germany  were  in 
everyone's  thoughts,  and  all  reflecting  Christians  had 
lately  been  much  excited  by  the  action  of  the  monks  of 
Wittenberg,  who  had  openly  and  with  intent  broken  their 
monastic  vows.  That  this  heinous  behaviour  was  not 
altogether  reprobated,  even  in  Italy,  would  appear  evident 
from  the  extraordinary  spectacle  which  Leo  and  his  court 
witnessed — apparently  without  protest  or  annoyance — 
and  which  Castiglione  has  described  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  the  court  of  Mantua.  On  an  empty  stage  is  placed 
a  pavilion  of  sad-coloured  drapery,  from  which  emerges 
a  beautiful  young  female,  who  in  elegant  verses  calls 
upon  the  Goddess  of  Love  to  procure  her  a  husband.  A 
blast  from  an  unseen  trumpet  is  supposed  to  announce 
that  Venus  has  granted  her  fair  suppliant's  natural  re- 
quest, whereupon  eight  hermits  in  flowing  robes  of  dark 
grey  rush  upon  the  boards.  Suddenly  perceiving  a 
statue  of  Cupid,  the  grey-clad  figures,  who  presumably 
are  intended  to  personate  cloistered  monks,  shoot  with 
arrows  at  the  son  of  Venus,  who  promptly  comes  to  life 
on  his  pedestal  and  runs  for  protection  to  his  mother,  at 
that  moment  advancing  on  to  the  stage.  The  hermits 
next  accept  an  opiate  from  the  hands  of  the  rejected 
damsel,  and  immediately  sink  to  sleep  on  the  floor. 
Venus  then  supplies  bow  and  arrows  to  her  son,  who  in 
his  turn  transfixes  the  prostrate  bodies  of  the  sleeping 
hermits.  The  slumberers  thereupon  awaken,  and  at 


i82  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

once  proceed  to  make  frantic  demonstrations  of  love 
towards  the  lady  that  they  have  hitherto  spurned. 
Circling  madly  round  her,  they  fling  aside  their  dusky 
weeds  to  appear  as  handsome  youths,  who  dance  a 
graceful  measure  to  soft  and  seductive  music.  Having 
performed  their  measure,  they  invite  the  damsel  to 
select  a  husband  out  of  their  number,  bidding  her  shoot 
seven  and  accept  the  survivor  ;  a  suggestion  that  the 
charming  creature  acts  upon  without  further  ado.  The 
naive  moral,  that  it  is  better  for  a  young  man  to  be  dead 
than  living  as  a  cloistered  monk,  and  better  still  to  be 
married  than  dead,  must  have  been  thus  made  obvious 
to  the  quick  intelligence  of  the  Pontiff,  who  seems  to 
have  been  amused  and  by  no  means  scandalised  by  this 
thinly  veiled  satire  upon  the  evils  of  clerical  celibacy.1 

Whilst  a  Cardinal  residing  in  Rome,  Leo  had  lived 
in  a  chronic  state  of  debt,  so  that  his  subsequent  extra- 
vagance can  have  caused  small  surprise  amongst  the 
princes  of  the  Church  who  had  elected  him.  Indeed, 
one  of  the  earliest  acts  of  his  reign  had  been  to  squander 
100,000  ducats,  nearly  a  quarter  of  the  whole  public 
treasury,  upon  the  empty  pageant  of  the  Sacro  Possesso  ; 
nor  had  many  months  elapsed  before  the  papal  coffers, 
filled  with  the  savings  of  the  frugal  Julius,  were  practic- 
ally emptied ;  in  the  words  of  a  critic  of  the  day,  Leo 
managed  to  consume  within  a  twelvemonth  the  whole 
revenues  of  his  predecessor,  of  himself  and  of  his  suc- 
cessor. He  was  naturally  a  bad  financier,  but  he  seems 
in  addition  to  have  had  a  sovereign  contempt  for  all 
forms  of  economy,  public  or  private  ; — "  the  Pope  could 
no  more  save  a  thousand  ducats  than  a  stone  could  fly 

^•Letter  of  Count  Baldassarc  Castiglione  to  the  Marchioness  of 
Mantua,  1521.  Pastor,  chap.  x. 


THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X  183 

up  into  the  sky,"  was  the  caustic  comment  of  Francesco 
Vettori  upon  his  master's  reckless  expenditure.  It  was 
lucky  for  Leo's  personal  popularity  in  Rome  that  the 
Romans  themselves  were  inclined  to  attribute  the  in- 
creased extravagance  flaunted  openly  on  all  sides  to  the 
malign  influence  of  his  many  Florentine  dependants 
rather  than  to  the  Pope's  own  inclination.  For  city  and 
court  alike  had  been  overwhelmed  in  the  late  irruption 
of  sharp-witted,  commercial-spirited  Tuscans,  high  and 
low,  rich  and  poor,  who  had  crowded  into  Rome  on  the 
election  of  their  Medicean  ruler  to  the  pontifical  throne. 
Previous  Popes  certainly  had  favoured  their  own  country- 
men, but  never  within  living  memory  had  the  Eternal 
City  beheld  such  a  horde  of  alien  adventurers  descending 
upon  her,  all  bent  on  obtaining  offices  and  grants  of 
monopolies,  so  that  grumblers  in  Rome  loudly  declared 
their  city  had  sunk  to  the  condition  of  a  Florentine 
colony.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  fairly  certain  that  the 
Pope  must  ere  long  have  been  made  bankrupt,  had  it 
not  been  for  the  assistance  of  the  Florentine  bankers — 
the  Strozzi,  Altoviti,  Salviati  and  other  families, — who 
were  shortly  in  possession  of  some  thirty  houses  of 
business  on  the  left  shore  of  the  Tiber  and  were  ever 
ready  to  lighten  the  Medici's  heavy  financial  burdens 
by  advancing  money  at  an  exorbitant  rate  of  interest, 
sometimes  rising  to  forty  per  cent.  Lack  of  funds  seems 
to  have  been  the  root  of  all  evil  in  Leo's  case,  for  almost 
every  illegal  or  unscrupulous  act  that  disgraced  his  reign 
can  generally  be  traced  to  the  Pope's  thriftless  methods 
and  inordinate  love  of  splendour ;  for  never  perhaps  has 
any  prince,  outside  an  Eastern  tale,  indulged  in  greater 
magnificence  or  scattered  more  profuse  largesse.  The 
gentlemen  and  clerks  of  the  court  amounted  to  over  six 
hundred,  whilst  the  full  number  of  attendants,  valets, 


184  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

scullions,  grooms,  keepers  of  hawk  and  hound  must  have 
been  truly  prodigious,  to  judge  from  the  contemporary 
accounts  of  the  papal  mode  of  life.  But  the  normal  ex- 
penses of  the  court  with  its  daily  banquets  and  its  frequent 
entertainments  were  immeasurably  swollen  by  the  vast 
additional  sums  spent  on  objects  so  varied  as  the  lavish 
decoration  of  the  Apostolic  palace  itself;  the  re-building 
of  St.  Peter's — that  fatal  legacy  of  the  grandiose  Julius 
to  his  successors  ;  the  buying  of  ancient  manuscripts ; 
the  endless  stream  of  charities  to  the  old,  the  poor  and 
the  religious  ;  the  innumerable  commissions  to  artists  and 
goldsmiths,  and  the  purchase  of  French  hound  and  Ice- 
landic falcon  for  the  Pope's  sport.  Nor  in  this  list  of 
expenses  must  mention  be  omitted  of  the  money 
squandered  at  the  gaming-table,  where  Leo  was  often 
wont  to  play  for  hours  at  his  favourite  primiero,1  punctu- 
ally paying  his  losses,  but  carelessly  flinging  his  winnings 
over  his  shoulder  to  the  surrounding  crowd  of  parasites. 
A  medley  of  intricate  politics  and  of  unseemly  frivolities, 
of  indecorous  farces  and  of  elaborate  Church  ceremonies, 
of  jovial  hunting-parties  and  of  intellectual  discussions, 
of  extravagant  entertainments  and  of  theological  debates, 
of  grave  discourse  with  foreign  ambassadors  and  of  ob- 
scene jesting  in  low  company  ; — such  was  that  "enjoy- 
ment of  the  Papacy,"  which  Leo  had  once  invited  his 
brother  Giuliano  to  share  with  him  on  his  election.  For 
nothing  which  might  tend  either  to  his  amusement  or  in- 
struction came  amiss  to  this  true  child  of  the  Florentine 
House  of  Medici; — "the  masterpieces  of  antiquity  and 
the  admirable  creations  of  contemporary  artists  did  not 
interest  him  less  than  the  accounts  of  newly-discovered 
lands,  the  elegant  poems  and  tasteful  speeches  of  the 

1  Primiero,  a  simple  game  with  cards,  somewhat  resembling  the 
English  game  of  "  Beggar-my-Neighbour  ". 


CARDINAL    BERNARDO   DOVIZI    DA   BIBBIKNA 


THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X  185 

Humanists  ;  the  frivolous  comedies  of  a  Bibbiena  and 
an  Ariosto  ;  the  delightful  concerts  of  choice  music  ;  the 
clever  verses  of  improvvisatori  and  the  coarse  jokes  of 
the  only  too-welcome  buffoons  of  the  courts  of  that 
period.  He  avoided  all  unpleasantness  as  a  fundamental 
rule,  and  gave  himself  up  without  restraint  to  amusement : 
a  trait  that  was  peculiar  to  his  family,  and  was  increased 
by  his  surroundings.  He  enjoyed  all  with  the  delight 
of  a  spoiled  child  of  the  world."  1 

Perhaps  our  clearest  conception  of  these  golden  days 
of  the  first  Medicean  Pope  can  best  be  obtained  from  ex- 
isting accounts  of  the  visit  which  the  celebrated  Isabella 
d'  Este,  Marchioness  of  Mantua,  paid  to  the  papal  court 
during  the  winter  of  15 14-5, 2  when  the  Marchesa,  to 
whose  infant  son  Ferrante  the  Pontiff  had  stood  god- 
father some  eight  years  before,  resided  for  four  months 
in  Rome.  The  wit  and  beauty  of  this  typical  great  lady 
of  the  Italian  Renaissance  immediately  won  the  hearts 
of  all  the  princes  of  the  Church  in  Rome,  who  were  only 
too  pleased  to  welcome  into  their  midst  that  female 
element,  the  absence  of  which  the  gallant  Bibbiena  was 
wont  so  often  to  deplore.  Received  in  full  state  at  the 
papal  frontier  by  her  old  friends  Bibbiena  and  Giuliano 
de'  Medici,  Isabella  made  her  way  to  the  Vatican,  where 
Leo  received  the  fair  diplomatist  (for  the  Marchesa  was 
combining  political  business  with  enjoyment  on  this  occa- 
sion) in  his  suavest  and  most  paternal  manner,  albeit  the 
princes  of  the  Houses  of  Este  and  Gonzaga,  old  Medicean 
friends  in  days  of  poverty  and  exile,  were  no  longer  held 
in  good  odour  by  the  ambitious  Pontiff.  He  even  re- 
fused to  permit  his  graceful  suppliant  to  remain  on  her 

1  Pastor,  chap.  x. 

2'For  this  incident  see  Signer  Alessandro  Luzio's  study,  Isabella  tf 
Este  ne  primordi  del  Papato  di  Leone  X.,  etc.  (Milano,  1907). 


1 86  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

knees  at  his  throne,  but  bade  her  sit  beside  him  like  a 
queen,  and  was  lavish  of  gifts,  promises  and  expressions 
of  good-will  towards  herself,  her  husband  and  her  charm- 
ing children.  The  Pope's  cordial  reception  was  the  sig- 
nal for  an  endless  stream  of  invitations  to  the  Marchesa 
and  her  sprightly  maids-of-honour,  who  during  their  so- 
journ in  Rome  found  themselves  plunged  into  a  positive 
whirlpool  of  banquets,  balls,  processions,  hunting-parties, 
popular  festivals  and  dramatic  performances  (amongst 
the  last-named  being  the  historic  production  of  Bibbiena's 
Calandria,  already  mentioned).  In  the  rare  intervals 
permitted  by  this  sequence  of  gaieties,  the  Marchesa, 
escorted  by  Raphael,  was  wont  to  visit  the  antiquities  of 
the  city  or  to  inspect  the  many  treasures  of  ancient  and 
contemporary  art  in  its  principal  palaces.  Of  a  truth, 
however,  there  was  very  little  leisure  to  spare  for  such 
matters,  seeing  that  the  entertainments  organised  in  her 
honour  scarcely  allowed  her  sufficient  time  for  sleep,  still 
less  for  intellectual  study.  "  Yesterday,"  writes  Isabella's 
secretary  to  his  master  in  Mantua,  "the  very  reverend 
Cardinal  Riario  gave  us  a  supper  so  extraordinarily 
sumptuous  that  it  might  suffice  for  all  the  queens  in  the 
world.  We  sate  for  four  full  hours  at  table,  laughing 
and  chatting  with  those  most  reverend  Cardinals."3 
Contemporary  accounts  of  these  banquets  leave  modern 
readers  astounded  at  the  variety,  quantity,  and  incon- 
gruity of  the  viands  offered  on  state  occasions.  Sweet 
and  savoury,  pastry  and  game,  were  all  served  at  one 
and  the  same  time,  whilst  the  spirit  of  vulgar  ostentation 
was  satisfied  by  endless  courses  of  rich  dishes,  so  that 
only  the  trained  gluttons  of  the  period,  such  as  Fra 
Mariano,  were  able  to  do  them  justice.  Merriment 
amongst  the  guests  was  commonly  aroused  by  some 

1  A.  Luzio,  Isabella  d"  Este,  etc. 


THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X  187 

such  device  as  a  huge  pie  filled  with  blackbirds  or 
nightingales,  which,  in  the  manner  of  the  old  nursery 
ditty,  flew  twittering  up  to  the  ceiling  when  the  host 
cautiously  cut  the  enclosing  crust.  At  other  times  ap- 
plause was  easily  evoked  by  such  puerile  absurdities  as 
a  dish  of  peacocks'  tongues  or  by  a  monster  pasty, 
whence  a  child  would  emerge  to  lisp  some  complimentary 
or  indelicate  verses  to  the  assembled  guests.  Loud  and 
often  uncouth  music  was  kept  up  incessantly  throughout 
these  long-drawn-out  feasts,  a  tolerable  idea  of  which 
can  be  gleaned  from  the  Venetian  envoy's  description 
of  one  of  Cardinal  Cornaro's  dinners.  "The  meal  was 
exquisite,"  writes  the  astonished  ambassador;  "there 
was  an  endless  succession  of  dishes,  for  we  had  sixty- 
five  courses,  each  course  consisting  of  three  different 
dishes,  all  of  which  were  placed  on  the  board  with  mar- 
vellous speed.  Scarcely  had  we  finished  one  dainty, 
than  a  fresh  plate  was  set  before  us,  and  yet  everything 
was  served  on  the  finest  of  silver,  of  which  his  Eminence 
has  an  abundant  supply.  At  the  end  of  the  meal  we 
rose  from  table  gorged  with  the  multiplicity  of  the 
viands  and  deafened  by  the  continual  concert,  carried 
on  both  within  and  without  the  hall  and  proceeding  from 
every  instrument  that  Rome  could  produce — fifes,  harp- 
sichords and  four-stringed  lutes  in  addition  to  the  voices 
of  hired  singers." l  Nevertheless,  Cornaro's  festal  dinner 
must  have  been  far  inferior  to  the  banquet  provided  for 
the  Marchioness  of  Mantua  by  Raffaele  Riario,  who  had 
the  finest  palace  and  the  largest  revenue  of  all  the 
cardinals  in  Rome,  and  whose  wealth  was  only  surpassed 
by  the  income  of  the  Sienese  banker,  Agostino  Chigi. 
This  famous  merchant-prince  and  patron  of  the  fine 
arts  had  himself  on  one  occasion  given  a  memorable 

1  Relazioni  degli  Oratori  Veneti. 


i88  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

entertainment  to  the  Supreme  Pontiff,  whereat  the  feast 
was  prepared  in  a  new  building  fitted  out  for  a  stable. 
The  walls  of  this  beautifully  proportioned  hall  had  how- 
ever been  hung  with  the  finest  of  tapestry  so  that  the 
general  effect  was  pleasing  in  the  extreme.  The  Pope 
and  the  distinguished  guests  present  were  astonished  not 
only  at  the  luxury  of  the  meal  and  the  splendid  hangings 
of  Chigi's  supposed  new  dining  hall,  but  were  also  amazed 
to  find  every  piece  of  plate  in  use  already  engraved 
with  the  armorial  bearings  of  the  persons  invited.  At 
the  conclusion  of  so  sumptuous  a  feast,  the  Pontiff  him- 
self began  to  congratulate  his  host  on  his  magnificent 
chamber,  regretting  that  even  the  Vatican  could  show 
no  room  equally  spacious  or  richly  furnished  ;  whereupon 
Chigi,  who  was  evidently  expecting  the  expression  of 
some  such  sentiment,  gave  the  signal  to  his  servants  to 
unfasten  the  cords  supporting  the  arras,  which  imme- 
diately fell  in  a  mass  to  the  floor,  exhibiting  to  the 
astounded  Pope  the  empty  racks  and  mangers  of  the 
steeds  that  were  shortly  to  be  installed  in  the  vast 
apartment  which  had  so  excited  the  envious  admiration 
of  the  splendour-loving  Medici — "Your  Holiness,  this 
is  not  my  banqueting  hall ;  it  is  merely  my  stable ! " 

As  Carnival  approached,  the  fun  waxed  faster  and 
more  furious,  since  each  cardinal  in  Rome  strove  to  in- 
vent some  fresh  pastime  for  the  fair  stranger,  who  could 
bandy  repartee  with  the  witty  Bibbiena  or  discourse  well 
of  Greek  letters  with  the  cultured  Leo.  "  Yesterday," 
so  writes  Isabella  on  the  2Qth  January,  1515,  to  her 
lord,  "to  make  a  beginning  of  the  festivals  and  merry- 
making of  Carnival,  His  Magnificence  Lorenzo  de' 
Medici  invited  us  to  dine  at  his  house  .  .  .  where  we 
saw  a  splendid  bull-fight  in  which  four  bulls  were  killed. 
The  performance  lasted  about  three  hours.  When  dusk 


THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X  189 

set  in,  we  fell  to  dancing  for  about  three  hours'  space. 
At  the  festival  appeared  the  most  reverend  the  Cardinals 
of  Aragon,  Este,  Petrucci  and  Cybb,  all  masked ;  but 
the  Cardinals  Bibbiena  and  Cornaro,  who  were  likewise 
supping  there,  went  unmasked.  The  sisters  and  nephew 
of  the  Pope  were  present.  The  banquet  was  very  fine 
and  choice,  and  lasted  about  two  hours,  after  which  we 
again  set  to  dancing,  and  enjoyed  ourselves  thus  until 
eight  of  the  clock. " l 

The  Papal  court  moreover  was  not  too  proud  to 
attend  at  such  a  season  the  humbler  diversions  of  the 
people,  which  included  processions  of  triumphal  cars,  a 
regatta  on  the  muddy  Tiber  and  the  time-honoured 
ceremony  at  the  Monte  Testaccio — that  grass-grown 
mound  near  the  Porta  San  Sebastiano,  which  was  once 
the  public  dumping-ground  of  Imperial  Rome.  This 
sport  consisted  in  the  rolling  of  barrels  containing  fat 
pigs  down  the  steep  slopes  of  the  hillock,  whilst  on  the 
flat  sward  at  its  base,  peasants  fought  like  wild  beasts 
for  the  heavy  casks  which  were  hurled  with  appalling 
velocity  into  their  midst  from  above.  Members  of  the 
Roman  court  found  pleasure  in  this  squalid  spectacle, 
and  from  their  safe  post  on  the  crest  of  the  Testaccio 
were  greatly  diverted  by  the  quarrelling  and  knife- 
thrusting  of  the  contadini  in  their  efforts  to  obtain  these 
prizes.  To  "a  battle  of  oranges,"  which  it  seems  Leo 
himself  with  his  keen  Tuscan  sense  of  humour  had 
suggested  as  a  suitable  novelty  for  Carnival-tide,  the 
Marchesa  received  a  special  invitation  from  the  Pope. 
"I  was  requested  by  His  Holiness,"  she  writes,  "to  go 
to  the  Castle  of  Sant'  Angelo  to  see  a  regatta  on  the 
Tiber  .  .  .  after  which  there  was  a  battle  of  oranges, 
that  would  have  been  a  delightful  spectacle  but  for  the 

1  A.  Luzio,  pp.  no- 1 1 2. 


1 9o  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

rain  and  storm  stopping  all  the  fun.  At  the  end  of  the 
entertainment  I  was  received  most  affectionately  by 
His  Holiness,  who  provided  us  with  a  most  sumptuous 
collation."1  The  battle  of  oranges,  which  the  inclement 
skies  of  February  so  cruelly  spoiled  for  the  Marchesa, 
seems  to  have  raged  round  a  fortress,  and  barricades 
constructed  of  wood,  which  was  defended  by  one  party 
of  the  papal  lacqueys  against  the  attacks  of  their  fellow- 
servants,  both  sides  pelting  each  other  vigorously  with 
the  yellow  fruit,  of  which  an  unlimited  supply  had  been 
provided  to  serve  as  missiles.  Isabella  and  her  august 
host  were  also  much  pleased  with  the  time-honoured 
feste  di  Piazza  Navona,  which  were  on  this  occasion 
marked  by  special  expenditure.  Cars  representing  Italy, 
the  Tiber,  the  She- wolf  of  Rome,  Alexander  the  Great 
on  horseback,  and  several  of  the  pagan  divinities  slowly 
filed  past  the  admiring  eyes  of  the  court  amidst  wild 
cheering  from  the  populace,  which  was  particularly 
attached  to  this  local  festival.  Two  hundred  youths, 
selected  for  their  graceful  bearing  and  good  looks,  took 
part  in  the  affair  habited  as  Roman  soldiers,  whilst  two 
camels  and  other  strange  animals  from  the  gardens  of 
the  Vatican  were  also  made  to  figure  in  this  incongruous 
and  tasteless  procession,  at  the  rear  of  which  followed  a 
huge  globe  surmounted  by  an  angel  to  symbolise  the 
triumph  of  Christianity. 

These  costly  pageants  in  the  city  were  varied  by 
occasional  hunting-parties  in  the  Campagna,  of  which 
that  arranged  by  the  Pope  on  his  preserves  at  La 
Magliana  was  the  most  remarkable,  seeing  that  3000 
horsemen  took  part  in  this  gigantic  beat  (caccia),  and 
the  game  killed  included  fifty  stags  and  twenty  wild  boar. 
But  so  important  a  feature  was  the  chase  in  Leo's  daily 

1  A.  Luzio,  p.  113. 


ARMORIAL   TROPHY  OF   LEO   X 

J.V    THE   VATICAN 


THE  COURT  OF  LEO  X  191 

existence,  that  an  account  of  the  papal  hunting  and  its 
incidents  has  been  reserved  for  the  following  chapter. 

On  27th  February,  Isabella  d'  Este  regretfully  left 
Rome  to  return  to  her  impatient  husband  at  Mantua. 
Her  departure,  as  may  well  be  imagined,  was  the  cause 
of  genuine  grief  to  her  special  friend,  Bibbiena,  as  also 
to  Petrucci  d'  Aragona,  Cybo  and  the  younger  and  less 
reputable  members  of  the  Sacred  College,  who  had 
thoroughly  appreciated  the  prolonged  visit  of  the 
Marchesa  and  her  maids-of-honour.  The  gaiety,  the 
vice,  the  paganism,  the  cynical  indifference  to  religion 
and  morality,  the  extravagance  in  every  form  of  the 
Leonine  Age,  all  were  thus  seen  at  their  worst  and  at 
their  brightest  by  the  pleasure-loving  but  shrewd  Isabella 
d'  Este,  who  is  herself  the  female  incarnation  of  that 
fascinating  but  corrupt  period.  Little  could  she  have 
foreseen,  when  she  quitted  the  Eternal  City  that  Febru- 
ary morning  to  the  deep  concern  of  Leo's  frivolous 
cardinals,  that  twelve  years  later  she  was  destined  to 
behold  with  her  own  eyes  the  carnage  and  desolation 
which  were  the  inevitable  consequence  of  all  those 
meretricious  and  illicit  splendours.  For  the  Marchesa 
was  actually  residing  in  Rome  during  that  terrible 
summer  of  1527,  when  her  own  residence,  the  Colonna 
Palace,  was  almost  the  only  house  in  the  whole  city  that 
escaped  the  frenzied  onslaught  of  bloodthirsty  Spaniards 
and  heretical  Germans.1  It  was  indeed  a  strange  irony 
of  fate  that  allowed  the  Marchioness  of  Mantua  to 
participate  in  the  glories  of  Leo's  semi-pagan  rule,  and 
later  to  become  an  eye-witness  of  the  fearful  and  total 
collapse  of  all  that  glittering  but  insecure  fabric  of 
magnificence  which  the  Medici  had  contrived  to  erect 
upon  the  ruins  of  Imperial  Rome. 

1  See  chapter  xiii. 


CHAPTER  VIII1 
LEO'S  HUNTING 

Taxing  the  folly  and  madnesse  of  such  vaine  men  that  spend 
themselves  in  those  idle  sports,  neglecting  their  business  and  necessary 
affairs,  Leo  Decimus,  that  hunting  Pope,  is  much  discommended  by 
Jovius  in  his  life,  for  his  immoderate  desire  of  hawking  and  hunting, 
insomuch  that  (as  he  saith)  he  would  sometimes  live  about  Ostia 
weeks  and  months  together,  leave  suters  unrespected,  Bulls  and 
Pardons  unsigned,  to  his  own  prejudice,  and  many  private  mens  loss. 
— "  And  if  he  had  been  by  chance  crossed  in  his  sport,  or  his  game 
not  so  good,  he  was  so  impatient,  that  he  would  revile  and  miscall 
many  times  men  of  great  worth  with  most  bitter  taunts,  look  so 
sowre,  be  so  angrie  and  waspish,  so  grieved  and  molested,  that  it  is 
incredible  to  relate  it."  But  if  he  had  good  sport,  and  bin  well 
pleased  on  the  other  side,  incredibili  munificentia,  with  unspeakable 
bounty  and  munificence  he  would  reward  all  his  fellow-hunters  and 
deny  nothing  to  any  suter,  when  he  was  in  that  mood  (Burton's 
Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  Part  I.,  sect.  2,  subsec.  13). 

IT  is  rarely  that  we  find  in  the  same  individual  a 
pronounced   taste  for   letters    combined   with   an 
insatiable  passion  for  the  chase ; — indeed,  in  our 
own  times  the  breach  between  the  spheres  of  sport  and 
of  learning  has  been  yet  further  enlarged,  so  that  now  an 
almost    bridgeless  chasm   seems  to  yawn    between  the 
scholar  and  the  sportsman.     Nevertheless,  Leo  contrived 
to  become  known  to  posterity  not  only  as  the   Papal 
Maecenas,  but  also  as  the  Papal  Nimrod.      As  a  cardinal 
Giovanni  de'  Medici  had  been  much  addicted  to  hunt- 

1  Throughout  this  chapter  considerable  use  has  been  made  of 
Count  Domenico  Gnoli's  charming  and  valuable  study — Le  Caccie  di 
Leone  X.,  in  La  Nuova  Antologia,  vol.  cxxvii. 

192 


LEO'S  HUNTING  193 

ing  in  the  Roman  Campagna,  often  forming  one  of  the 
large  parties  arranged  by  his  wealthy  colleagues,  Ascanio 
Sforza  and  Alessandro  Farnese.  Indulgence  in  the 
chase  had  never  been  considered  improper  in  the  case 
of  a  cardinal,  but  as  yet  no  Pontiff  had  ever  condescended, 
either  by  reason  of  choice  or  sense  of  official  dignity, 
to  take  more  than  a  passing  interest  in  this  form  of 
amusement.  Leo  must  be  adjudged  therefore  the  first 
Pope  regularly  to  abandon  himself  to  sport,  to  organise 
hunting-parties  on  a  scale  hitherto  unsurpassed  and  to 
preserve  whole  districts  in  the  Campagna  to  supply 
himself  and  his  guests  with  the  necessary  game.  But 
even  in  this  case  precedent  was  strong,  and  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  at  first  Leo  X.  hesitated  to  persist  in  a 
practice  that  had  not  been  seriously  condemned  in  the 
Cardinal  de'  Medici.  For  in  July,  1513,  only  a  few 
weeks  after  his  accession,  we  find  him  sending  a  regret- 
ful refusal  to  a  tempting  invitation  from  that  inveterate 
sportsman,  Cardinal  Farnese :  "  Oh,  that  I  could  but 
enjoy  your  own  freedom,  so  as  to  accept  your  offer ! " 
But  if  his  refusal  was  really  due  to  ecclesiastical  scruples 
(as  seems  highly  probable)  these  had  certainly  been  over- 
come by  the  close  of  the  year,  since  in  January,  1514, 
that  is  within  a  twelvemonth  of  his  election,  we  find  Leo 
openly  engrossed  in  his  favourite  occupation.  The 
Pope's  nominal  excuse  for  this  changed  attitude  was  the 
advice  of  the  court  physicians,  who  insisted  on  a  life  in 
the  open  air  as  beneficial  and  even  essential  to  his  health. 
Yet,  assuming  that  the  doctors  of  their  own  free  will 
were  urging  this  point  without  merely  recommending 
what  was  agreeable  to  Leo's  obvious  wishes,  it  is  im- 
possible to  imagine  the  Pope  ignorant  of  the  strict  pro- 
hibition of  such  a  form  of  recreation  by  the  canon  law, 
and  indeed  we  find  the  Papal  Nimrod  in  the  course  of 
13 


i94  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

his  reign  forbidding  the  Portuguese  clergy  to  indulge  in 
those  very  pursuits  to  which  he  himself  was  so  notoriously 
addicted. 

The  chief  scene  of  Leo's  hunting  expeditions  was  his 
favourite  residence,  the  Villa  Magliana,1  situated  on  the 
road  to  Porto,  at  about  five  miles'  distance  from  the 
city.  Erected  by  Innocent  VIII.  and  embellished  by 
Julius  II.,  the  Magliana  had  for  some  time  served  as  an 
occasional  country  retreat  for  the  Popes,  who  seemed 
quite  careless  or  ignorant  of  the  unhealthy  nature  of  its 
site  ;  a  flat  meadow  reeking  of  fever  at  no  great  distance 
from  the  Tiber.  To-day  the  old  papal  hunting-lodge, 
which  is  utilised  as  a  farm  building,  though  standing  un- 
inhabited, presumably  on  account  of  the  local  malaria, 
consists  of  a  range  of  low  stone  buildings  in  a  fair  state 
of  preservation,  enclosing  a  courtyard  with  a  broken 
fountain,  at  present  used  as  a  watering  trough.  A 
graceful  little  balcony  of  marble  looking  eastward 
across  the  grassy  plains  of  the  Tiber  towards  the  purple- 
hued  range  of  the  Alban  Hills,  as  well  as  a  loggia  and  a 
broad  staircase  on  its  northern  side  remain  intact. 
Everywhere  are  to  be  seen  escutcheons  of  the  Cybo  and 
Delia  Rovere  Popes,  but  by  a  strange  coincidence  not  a 
single  Medicean  emblem  has  survived  the  ravages  of 
time.  From  the  damp  dilapidated  chapel  and  the  dis- 
mantled halls  the  fading  frescoes  of  Raphael  and  Lo 
Spagna  have  long  since  been  abstracted,  but  it  is  still 
easy  to  trace  the  tinello  or  dining-hall,  the  great  kitchen 
and  other  domestic  arrangements  of  this  tiny  palace, 
"this  Vatican  in  miniature,"  as  contemporaries  named 
the  Magliana.  Mulberry  and  acacia  trees  occupy  the 
space  once  covered  by  the  admired  pleasaunce  of  the 

1  La  Magliana  stands  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  main  line 
running  north  to  Genoa. 


LEO'S  HUNTING  195 

first  Medicean  Pontiff  with  its  aviaries  and  fountains ; 
otherwise  a  flat  thistle-grown  expanse  follows  the  curves 
of  the  river  towards  distant  Ostia.  Close  to  the  deserted 
villa  the  muddy,  turbulent  stream  of  the  Magliana 
rushes  past  through  thickets  of  willow  and  aspen  to  join 
the  yellow  Tiber,  whilst  northward  extends  for  miles  and 
miles  a  scrub-covered  undulating  country,  which  even 
to-day  affords  ample  shelter  both  for  winged  and  ground 
game.  The  Magliana  was  of  course  papal  property, 
and  as  all  the  neighbouring  territory  belonged  to  the 
Orsini  family,  his  own  relatives,  it  was  no  difficult  matter 
for  Leo  to  obtain  an  immense  tract  of  land  suitable  for 
purposes  of  sport ;  indeed  this  papal  hunting  estate 
stretched  from  the  Tiber  on  the  south  into  the  Campagna 
as  far  north  as  the  Isola  Farnese,  its  boundary  to  west- 
ward being  the  sea-coast  and  to  eastward  the  ancient 
Via  Cassia.  At  the  villa  itself  the  Pope,  whose  love  of 
venary  was  by  no  means  confined  to  the  chase,  had 
erected  an  enormous  gazzara,  or  netted  enclosure,  where- 
in hundreds  of  jays  (gazze],  doves  and  herons  were  kept 
ready  for  the  sport  of  hawking,  of  which  Leo  was  pas- 
sionately fond.  By  thus  reserving  birds  in  confinement, 
the  trouble  and  delay  of  finding  the  necessary  quarry  in 
the  open  were  saved,  so  that  the  Pontiff  could  at  any 
moment,  when  the  desire  seized  him,  follow  with  his 
spy-glass  from  the  balcony  of  the  villa  or  from  a  shady 
seat  in  the  garden  the  spectacle  of  a  favourite  falcon 
and  its  destined  prey  mounting  upward  in  graceful 
spirals  into  the  clear  blue  of  the  Roman  sky.1  At  the 
papal  mews  hard  by  were  housed  numerous  hawks  from 
the  tiny  merlin  to  the  powerful  goshawk  ;  whilst  a  neigh- 
bouring structure  was  reserved  for  the  ferrets.  The 
Pontiff  seems  to  have  been  devoted  to  ferreting,  since 
1  Jovius,  lib.  iv. 


196  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

he  had  at  great  expense  caused  a  large  area  of  sandy 
waste  near  Palo  to  be  surrounded  by  a  palisade  and  then 
well-stocked  with  rabbits.  The  interior  of  this  conigliare 
(which  must  have  closely  resembled  the  modern  rabbit- 
warren  constructed  on  so  many  English  estates)  was 
thickly  planted  with  myrtle  and  juniper  scrub,  and  large 
quantities  of  meal  and  fodder  were  also  supplied  to  the 
captive  coneys,  as  sundry  entries  in  the  papal  accounts 
of  the  period  testify.  As  both  the  rabbits  in  the  coni- 
gliare, the  birds  in  the  gazzara  and  even  the  valuable 
French  hounds  suffered  much  from  the  attacks  of 
scorpions  and  snakes,  high  rewards  were  always  paid  to 
the  peasants  for  any  noxious  reptiles  killed  near  La 
Magliana  or  the  warren  at  Palo. 

The  hunting  season  for  ground  game  usually  opened 
in  the  middle  of  September,  and  continued  throughout 
the  whole  of  the  autumn  and  winter,  during  which  period 
the  Pope  was  often  absent  from  Rome  for  so  long  a 
space  as  six  weeks  at  a  stretch.  Popular  as  Leo  un- 
doubtedly was  and  lax  as  was  the  age,  yet  this  craving 
for  sport  and  open  indulgence  in  hunting  at  first  aroused 
a  certain  degree  of  opposition  at  the  Roman  court. 
Paris  de  Grassis,  whose  varied  experiences  under  the 
two  last  Pontiffs  could  not  have  rendered  him  particularly 
strait-laced,  was  horrified,  at  least  in  the  opening  year  of 
his  reign,  by  Leo's  total  disregard  for  papal  etiquette  and 
by  his  hunting  costume  which,  though  no  doubt  con- 
venient for  the  purpose,  appeared  highly  indecent  to  his 
master  of  the  ceremonies.  "He  left  Rome  without  his 
stole,  and  what  is  worse  without  his  rochet,  and  what  is 
worst  of  all,  he  wore  long  riding  boots  (stivali),  which  is 
most  improper,  seeing  that  then  the  people  cannot  kiss 
the  Pope's  feet ! "  But  in  reply  to  the  anxious  de 
Grassis'  expostulations,  the  Medici  only  assumed  his 


LEO'S  HUNTING  197 

blandest  smile  without  taking  further  trouble  to  excuse 
or  justify  his  queer  apparel.  And  if  the  garb  of  their 
master  appeared  uncanonical  and  unsuited  to  his  lofty 
position,  that  of  his  accompanying  cardinals  showed  even 
less  regard  for  what  was  seemly  in  princes  of  the  Church, 
so  that  we  read  of  the  observant  Venetian,  Matteo 
Dandolo,  commenting  severely  upon  Cornaro's  unclerical 
appearance  in  a  close-fitting  jacket  of  brown  Flemish 
cloth  and  with  a  broad  ungainly  Spanish  hat. 

The  name  of  Domenico  Boccamazzo,  the  Pope's 
trusted  head-keeper,  who  was  responsible  for  the  pre- 
servation of  game  in  the  papal  hunting  zones  at  La 
Magliana,  Palo,  Cervetri,  Toscanella  and  elsewhere, 
frequently  occurs  in  the  chronicle  of  the  private  expenses 
of  the  papal  household,  and  Boccamazzo  has  a  still 
further  claim  on  our  remembrance,  if  not  on  our  grati- 
tude, as  the  author  of  a  treatise  composed  quarter  of  a 
century  after  Leo's  death,  wherein  he  laments  the  passing 
of  the  golden  days  of  the  Papal  Nimrod  and  relates 
some  of  his  own  experiences  as  papal  huntsman.1  This 
keeper  of  the  Italian  Renaissance,  who  as  an  author 
must  certainly  be  reckoned  unique  in  his  profession,  de- 
scribes with  commendable  exactness  the  terms  and 
methods  of  the  hunting  of  his  own  day,  and  thereby 
quite  unconsciously  draws  for  us  a  most  valuable  picture  of 
that  brilliant  society  of  the  Leonine  Age  amusing  itself 
in  the  free  air  of  the  Campagna  after  a  long  spell  of 
indulgence  in  the  political,  learned  and  artistic  atmos- 
phere of  the  city. — "  Finding  myself  in  a  declining  old 
age,"  writes  Boccamazzo  in  the  opening  sentences  of  his 
modest  work,  "  after  having  spent  all  my  life  and  all  my 
substance  in  thechace,  ...  I  thought  it  suitable  to  in- 

1The  title  of  this  curious  little  work  seems  to  have  been  // 
Cacciatore  Signorile  di  Domenico  Boccamazzo. 


i98  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

scribe  in  this  my  book  the  ways  of  hunting  and  of  hunt- 
ing parties  in  my  prime  ; "  and  it  is  from  the  pages  of  Leo's 
literary  keeper  that  we  are  enabled  to  learn  many  in- 
teresting details  of  the  Papal  Nimrod  and  his  court. 

On  the  day  previous  to  the  hunt  an  under-keeper, 
skilled  in  the  lore  of  wild  animals  and  assisted  by  a  well- 
trained  dog,  would  select  a  convenient  spot,  teeming  with 
game  of  every  description,  from  hares  and  porcupines  to 
stags  and  wild  boar.  Under  the  eye  of  the  capo-caccia, 
that  is  of  Boccamazzo  himself,  the  chosen  area,  which 
was  probably  a  small  woody  valley  debouching  on  the 
plain,  would  be  wholly  enclosed  by  immense  strips  of 
stout  sail-cloth  (tele),  each  piece  some  twenty  feet  long 
by  six  feet  high  and  fastened  together  with  hooks,  for 
in  the  days  of  Leo  the  old  Italian  use  of  nets  (reti)  for 
this  purpose  had  been  superseded  by  the  new  French 
hunting  fashions.  These  tele  were  firmly  secured  by 
stout  poles  driven  into  the  earth  and  were  watched 
during  the  progress  of  the  day's  sport  by  soldiers  of  the 
Swiss  Guard  aided  by  peasants,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
prevent  the  terrified  boars  from  breaking  through  the 
enclosing  material,  or  the  stags  from  leaping  bodily  over 
it  in  their  frantic  endeavours  to  escape.  Next  day  at 
the  appointed  hour  for  the  hunt,  the  armata,  or  armed 
sporting  party,  was  carefully  marshalled  on  the  plain 
outside  the  enclosed  space,  the  principal  post  of  vantage 
being  reserved  for  the  Principe  Cacciatore,  or  Master  of 
the  Hunt,  that  is  for  the  Supreme  Pontiff  himself.  The 
cardinals  and  nobles  of  the  papal  court  were  next  led  to 
suitable  positions  so  as  to  obtain  the  cream  of  the  sport ; 
riders  on  horseback  were  disposed  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  prevent  the  on-rushing  game  from  escaping  into 
neighbouring  marshes  or  thickets ;  whilst  the  grooms 
holding  the  greyhounds  and  mastiffs  in  leash  were  like- 


LEO'S  HUNTING  199 

wise  appointed  to  their  proper  places.  When  all  was 
ready,  the  Principe  Cacciatore  gave  the  signal  to  begin 
by  waving  aloft  a  white  kerchief,  whereupon  a  long  blast 
on  the  horn  was  sounded,  and  the  under-keepers  with 
peasants  to  act  as  beaters  entered  the  enclosure  with 
fearful  yells,  shouts,  blowing  of  horns  and  even  explo- 
sions of  gunpowder  in  order  to  drive  the  imprisoned  game 
out  of  cover  towards  the  open,  where  the  company  was 
awaiting  its  appearance.  Amidst  the  wildest  excitement 
and  a  deafening  chorus  of  shouting,  barking  and  cheer- 
ing the  frightened  beasts  rushed  pell-mell  hither  and 
thither,  being  skilfully  guided  towards  the  fatal  opening 
ready  prepared  for  them.  With  a  roar  of  delight 
cardinals,  nobles,  knights  and  prelates  with  their  at- 
tendants flung  themselves  upon  the  half-stupefied  prey, 
attacking  with  energy,  but  apparently  without  much 
science,  boar,  wolf,  goat,  deer  or  hare  with  every  kind 
of  weapon  save  the  musket,  which  for  obvious  reasons 
was  forbidden  on  these  occasions. 

Whilst  some  of  the  sportsmen  tried  to  spear  the 
flying  hart  or,  sword  in  hand,  to  face  the  enraged  boar, 
others  would  follow  the  greyhounds  on  horseback  across 
the  open  plain  in  pursuit  of  hare  or  bustard.  Meanwhile 
His  Holiness,  the  Master  of  the  Hunt,  a  conspicuous 
figure  on  the  white  horse  that  had  borne  him  at  Ravenna, 
was  smilingly  surveying  from  his  secure  and  lofty  position 
the  general  tumult  through  the  inevitable  glass :  now 
applauding  the  Herculean  Cardinal  Sanseverino  (who 
in  imitation  of  his  favourite  antique  god  constantly  bore 
a  lion's  skin  on  his  broad  shoulders)  for  his  pluck  in 
meeting  the  on-rush  of  a  wounded  boar,  now  warning 
some  favourite  page  to  keep  clear  of  the  fray,  and  anon 
laughing  consumedly  at  the  absurd  antics  of  Fra  Mariano 
struggling  with  a  refractory  mule,  or  at  Paolo  Giovio, 


200  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

his  own  historian,  who  in  the  excitement  of  the  chase 
had  come  to  grief  in  some  muddy  ditch  and  was  flounder- 
ing in  the  oozy  slime. 

Yet  even  more  important  than  Boccamazzo  in  the 
management  of  the  papal  hunts  was  Leo's  private 
chamberlain,  Giovanni  Lazzaro  de'  Magistris,  universally 
known  by  his  nick-name  of  Serapica,  "the  Mosquito," 
which  he  presumably  owed  to  his  small  shrill  voice.  A 
hard-bitten  wiry  little  fellow,  originally  a  parish  priest  at 
Aquila  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  Serapica  had  gained 
the  confidence  of  Leo  equally  by  his  tact  at  court  and 
by  his  indomitable  pluck  in  the  field,  where  he  would 
face  a  charging  boar,  and  even  on  one  occasion  was 
badly  tossed  by  a  stray  bull  before  his  master's  eyes. 
Both  as  a  courtier  in  the  palace  and  as  custodian  of  the 
papal  kennels,  this  Neapolitan  sporting  priest  served  his 
magnificent  patron  faithfully  during  his  life  and  mourned 
him  with  sincerity  after  death.  It  is  not  difficult,  however, 
to  understand  why  Serapica's  undeniable  influence  with 
the  Pontiff  became  the  cause  of  much  jealousy  amongst 
the  more  prominent  members  of  the  Roman  court,  whose 
outraged  feelings  were  expressed  in  the  foul-mouthed 
Aretino's  sarcastic  epigram  upon  Serapica's  strange  ad- 
vancement from  the  papal  kennels  to  the  papal  presence.1 
Whilst  Boccamazzo  was  held  answerable  for  the  constant 
supply  of  game,  Serapica  was  responsible  for  all  the 
arrangements  of  the  hunt,  a  matter  of  no  small  concern 
when  Leo  penetrated  into  the  more  remote  districts  of 
the  Campagna,  where  only  a  few  fever-stricken  hamlets 
existed  to  afford  shelter  for  the  Pontiff  and  his  luxurious 
suite,  which  often  contained  a  hundred  or  more  guests, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  ruck  of  humbler  followers,  such  as 
beaters,  grooms,  and  dog-keepers.  In  fact,  the  expected 

1  Serapica  stregghio  i  cani ;  e  poi  fu  papa. 


ALKSSAXDRO    FARNKSK  (PAUL   III) 


LEO'S  HUNTING  201 

arrival  of  the  Papal  Nimrod  brought  no  little  anxiety  to 
the  local  governors  of  the  small  towns  of  the  Roman 

o 

State,  so  that  we  can  easily  imagine  the  mixed  feelings 
wherewith  the  Castellan  of  Civitta  Vecchia  must  have 
received  the  ensuing  communication  from  His  Holiness 
on  the  1 8th  October,  1518  :— 

"  MY  BELOVED  CASTELLAN, 

"  I  shall  be  at  Civita  Vecchia  on  the  24th  day 
of  this  month  with  a  large  suite.  You  must  arrange  for 
a  good  dinner  with  plenty  of  fish  for  me,  as  I  am  most 
anxious  to  make  a  display  of  state  before  the  men  of 
letters  and  others  who  will  be  my  companions.  I  shall 
reimburse  all  your  expenses  on  our  behalf.  I  command 
you  to  let  nothing  be  wanting  at  this  banquet,  since  I 
wish  to  entertain  thereat  persons  of  the  highest  consider- 
ation, who  are  very  dear  to  my  heart  We  shall  be  140 
in  number,  and  that  will  serve  to  guide  you,  so  that  there 
may  be  no  mistakes  nor  deficiencies  through  ignorance. 
I  bestow  my  blessing  upon  you. 

"Your  most  loving 

"SOVEREIGN"  l 

But  this  number,  large  as  it  appears,  was  moderate 
in  comparison  with  the  immense  crowds  which  attended 
the  hunts  of  Cardinal  Farnese,  when  he  entertained  the 
Pontiff  on  his  estates  at  Viterbo  or  Cannino.  These 
visits  to  the  feudal  domains  of  the  Farnesi,  made  usually 
in  the  summer  months,  gave  occasion  to  immense  holo- 
causts of  feathered  game,  chiefly  pheasants,  partridges  and 
quails,  which  were  captured  by  most  elaborate  and  in- 
genious devices,  whilst  smaller  birds,  such  as  thrushes, 
ortolans  and  larks,  even  robins  and  goldfinches,  were 
snared  in  thousands  by  means  of  the  uccellare,  the 

1  Quoted  by  Count  Gnoli  (Le  Caccie  di  Leone  X.}. 


202  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

historic  bird-snare  of  Italy.  The  warm  weather  likewise 
drew  Leo  to  the  beautiful  wooded  shores  of  the  Lake  of 
Bolsena,  which  had  long  been  familiar  to  him,  since  as 
legate  of  the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter  he  had  occasionally 
resided  at  the  town  of  Bolsena,  where  a  stately  palace  and 
a  fountain  enriched  with  Florentine  coloured  terra-cotta 
still  proclaim  to-day  the  taste  and  bounty  of  the 
Medici.  The  Pontiff  bore  such  an  affection  for  this  smil- 
ing district,  partly  from  old  associations  but  chiefly  on  ac- 
count of  the  splendid  fishing  afforded  by  these  prolific 
waters,  that  a  summer  rarely  passed  unmarked  by  his 
presence  on  these  shores.  "  Every  year,"  sings  the  house- 
poet  of  the  Farnesi,  "doth  Leo  condescend  to  visit  our 
domain  and  to  bathe  his  holy  countenance  in  our  waves." 
Taking  up  his  residence  in  a  villa  belonging  to  his  host  on 
the  islet  of  Bisentina,  Leo  was  frequently  rowed  over  the 
shining  expanse  of  Bolsena  in  a  specially  constructed 
barge  manned  by  sixteen  oarsmen ;  sometimes  to  in- 
dulge in  a  long  day's  fishing  or  sometimes  to  visit  his 
own  preserve  of  pheasants  on  the  island  of  Martana. 
Owing  to  the  sparse  population  on  the  shores  of  Bolsena, 
boatmen  and  fishermen  had  to  be  brought  from  Lake 
Trasimeno  to  minister  to  the  pontifical  pleasure  and  to 
assist  in  the  immense  hauls  of  fish,  and  particularly  of 
the  famous  eels  of  Bolsena,  which,  according  to  Dante, 
had  caused  the  death  of  Leo's  predecessor  Pope  Martin 
IV.,  whose  gluttony  for  eels  and  white  wine  was  punished 
by  a  course  of  starvation  in  Purgatory  :— 

"  E  purga  per  digiuno 
L'  anguille  di  Bolsena  e  la  vernaccia."1 

Nevertheless,  in  addition  to  his  fishing  preserves  at  sylvan 
Bolsena,  Leo  had  constructed  near  Ostia  a  huge  bacino, 

1  Purgatorio,  canto  xxiv. 


LEO'S  HUNTING  203 

or  artificial  pond  of  salt  water,  teeming  with  all  kinds  of 
Mediterranean  fishes,  wherein  the  Pope  and  his  guests 
frequently  diverted  themselves.1 

These  expeditions  at  Bolsena  and  Ostia,  however, 
were  reckoned  as  simple  amusements,  which  could  not 
be  compared  with  the  sterner  pleasures  of  the  chase, 
which  afforded  Leo  far  keener  enjoyment.  But  although 
the  author  of  these  hunting-parties  and  their  most  devoted 
observer,  we  must  ever  bear  in  mind  that  Leo  was  seldom 
anything  but  a  spectator  or  an  umpire  of  the  exciting 
scenes  and  personal  encounters  around  him.  His  chronic 
malady  forbade  him  to  indulge  in  vigorous  exercise  either 
on  horseback  or  afoot,  assuming  moral  or  official  scruples 
were  insufficient  of  themselves  to  restrain  him  ; — in  boggy 
or  dangerous  places  even  His  Holiness  had  to  be  carried 
in  a  litter  in  order  to  reach  the  proposed  scene  of  opera- 
tions. More  than  one  contemporary  poet  has  fortunately 
left  us  accounts  of  these  papal  hunts,  and  though  their 
Latin  verses  are  full  of  pedantic  allusions  and  of  fulsome 
praise  of  the  Pontiff,  his  cardinals,  his  courtiers,  his  dogs, 
his  very  buffoons,  we  have  been  presented  with  striking 
glimpses  of  a  day's  hunting  in  the  golden  age  of  the  first 
Medicean  Pope.  Through  the  Palietum?  for  example, 
of  Baldassare  Molosso,  commonly  called  Tranquillo  and 
known  to  history  as  the  tutor  of  that  human  fiend,  Pier- 
Luigi  Farnese,  first  Duke  of  Parma  (then  a  stripling 
described  by  Leo  himself  as  "possessing  high  courage, 
praiseworthy  manners  and  a  good  disposition  "),  we  are 

1  Jovius,  lib.  iv.  Paolo  Giovio  was  himself  the  author  of  one  of  the 
earliest  Italian  treatises  on  the  natural  history  of  fish  ;  his  De  Piscibus 
Romanis  being  published  shortly  after  Leo's  death.  It  is  probable 
that  the  historian  obtained  his  information  on  this  subject  during 
these  fishing  expeditions  at  Bolsena  and  Ostia. 

"  Tranquilli  Molossi  Palietum,  Bossi-Roscoe,  vol.  xii.,  pp.  129- 


204  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

able  to  obtain  a  valuable  picture  of  an  event  of  this 
nature  which  took  place  on  lyth  January,  1514,  when 
Leo  was  the  guest  of  the  poet's  patron,  Cardinal  Ales- 
sandro  Farnese,  afterwards  Pope  Paul  III.  In  graceful 
flowing  hexameters  Tranquillo  salutes  the  Pontiff  as 
"the  Jupiter  of  Earth,"  and  then  alludes  to  the  young- 
Cardinal  Petrucci  of  Siena  as  "that  most  beautiful  of 
youths,  to  whom  Cupid  has  yielded  his  bow,  his  arrows, 
and  his  very  quiver,  whereby  to  make  havoc  in  the 
hearts  of  the  nymphs  and  tender  maidens  ".  Innocenzo 
Cybb,  the  Pope's  own  nephew,  the  poet  flatters  by 
professing  to  foresee  in  him  a  future  Pontiff,  a  curious 
and  rather  dangerous  compliment,  seeing  that  Leo  him- 
self had  barely  reached  his  thirty-ninth  year.  All  names, 
however,  are  presented  to  us  in  classical  guise,  with  the 
result  that  not  a  few  of  them  can  no  longer  be  identified  ; 
yet  it  is  easy  to  recognise  the  intrepid  little  Serapica  in 
the  line— 

Fortis  equo  sumptisque  minax  Serapitius  armis. 

In  the  midst  of  this  brilliant  array  of  nobles  and  prelates, 
all  bent  on  amusement,  appears  Leo  with  the  genial 
smile,  prominent  like  Jove  himself  surrounded  by  the 
minor  deities  of  Olympus.  Beside  him  rides  Farnese, 
unarmed  and  only  intent  on  his  august  master's  wishes  ; 
but  the  other  cardinals  all  bear  lances,  swords  or  darts, 
which  they  employ  with  varying  degrees  of  skill  upon 
the  big  game  that  is  driven  for  them  out  of  the  enclosed 
thickets.  The  gigantic  Sanseverino,  who  once  bore 
Alexander  VI.  in  his  arms  like  a  baby  and  who  can  still 
despite  his  years  vie  in  bodily  strength  with  the  younger 
cardinals,  deftly  transfixes  with  his  short  sword  a  charging 
boar  of  prodigious  size  :  a  daring  feat  which  wins  for  him 
the  warm  approbation  of  His  Holiness,  who  at  the  same 


LEO'S  HUNTING  205 

time  implores  his  host  not  to  allow  his  precious  heir,  the 
little  Pier-Luigi,  to  mingle  in  the  sport  for  fear  of  some 
injury.  Meanwhile  Fra  Mariano — purposely,  perhaps, 
who  can  tell? — manages  to  fall  off  his  mule  within  sight 
of  the  Pontiff's  glass  and  thus  arouses  his  patron's  mirth 
by  his  comical  struggles  and  shrill  appeals  for  assistance. 
And  thus  for  hours  the  merry-making  proceeds  apace  to 
the  united  sounds  of  beaters  calling,  dogs  giving  tongue 
and  wild  beasts  screaming  with  fear  or  agony.  The 
sun  declines  towards  the  western  horizon  ;  all  are  grown 
weary  of  the  sport ;  the  enclosed  space  is  well-nigh  de- 
nuded of  its  game  ;  so  that  the  papal  command  to  cease 
is  received  with  general  satisfaction.  In  the  picked 
phrases  of  the  poet  thus  does  the  great  Leo  now  address 
his  brother  prelates  and  sportsmen.  "  The  Gods  have 
granted  our  prayer,  for  this  day's  hunting  has  been  most 
prosperous,  although  at  the  first  uprising  of  the  sun  the 
morn  was  dim  with  clouds  and  showers.  But  later 
Phoebus  Apollo  changed  his  aspect  and  shone  out 
radiantly  with  face  serene  as  on  a  day  in  springtime. 
Thus  do  the  Gods  show  favour  to  such  as  never  despair.1 
Enough  of  dart  and  hound!  Our  slaughter  for  to-day 
is  sufficient.  Lay  aside  your  weapons,  and  tie  again 
the  swift  hounds  to  the  leash.  Whatever  game  remains 
in  cover  will  afford  us  sport  another  season." 

With  the  setting  sun  the  long  train  slowly  proceeds 
homewards  to  Farnese's  castle  at  Cannino,  where  at  the 
gates  of  the  little  town  groups  of  peasants  applaud  the 
returning  Pontiff,  who  smiles  genially  in  response  and 
flings  handfuls  of  coins  from  the  purse  of  crimson  velvet 
at  his  girdle,  which  it  is  Serapica's  duty  constantly  to 
replenish.  For  Leo  is  very  popular  with  the  people  of 
the  Campagna,  whom  he  loves  to  converse  with  and  also 

1  Compare  with  this,  chapter  iii.,  p.  55. 


206  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

pays  handsomely  in  return  for  any  forced  labour  he 
may  exact.  Moreover,  he  constantly  bestows  largesse 
upon  whole  families,  and  gives  dowries  to  enable  pretty 
sunburnt  girls  to  marry  their  sweethearts ; — his  very 
coming  enriches  the  fields  and  brings  a  golden  harvest, 
so  aver  the  grateful  contadini  not  without  reason.1 
Leaving  the  cheering  crowd  and  the  improvised  festal 
arches  of  the  town,  Farnese's  guests  enter  the  castle 
hall,  where  an  elaborate  supper  is  being  prepared. 
The  interval  of  waiting  is  passed  in  animated  con- 
versation concerning  the  incidents  of  the  past  day's 
sport,  or  else  in  admiring  the  fine  tapestries  and  pictures 
of  the  chamber.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  meal,  Grapaldo 
of  Parma  sings  to  his  lute  Latin  hexameters,  of  which 
the  theme  is  Diana  surprised  in  her  naked  loveliness  by 
the  rash  hunter  Actseon,  whom  the  indignant  goddess 
forthwith  changes  into  a  stag  that  is  straightway  torn  to 
pieces  by  his  own  hounds.  By  midnight  all  have  grown 
weary  from  their  past  fatigues  or  sleepy  from  the  effects 
of  the  Cardinal's  choice  wines,  and  on  Leo  giving  the 
signal  to  retire  all  gladly  seek  their  couches.  For  ten 
days  this  life  is  pursued  at  Cannino  without  a  break, 
and  then  with  hundreds  of  happy  and  enriched  peasants 
wishing  him  God-speed,  the  Jupiter  of  Earth  returns 
once  more  to  Rome,  where  the  citizens  hasten  to  the 
gates  to  meet  the  papal  cavalcade  and  to  admire  the 
trophies  of  the  late  hunt  proudly  displayed  ;  particularly 
the  huge  tusker  slain  by  the  hand  of  the  Cardinal 
Sanseverino.  Before  the  portals  of  the  Vatican  His 
Holiness  turns  to  address  his  erstwhile  companions  of 
the  chase :  "  Fellow-hunters,  it  is  not  meet  that  I  alone 
should  obtain  the  whole  of  the  booty,  which  has  been 
secured  by  your  own  exertions.  Take  it  therefore  away 

1  Jovius,  lib.  iv. 


LEO'S  HUNTING  207 

with  you,  and  suspend  the  horns  of  the  stags  as  votive 
offerings  above  the  temple  doors.  All  the  spoil  belongs 
to  you  ;  the  sight  of  it  affords  sufficient  pleasure  to  Leo." 
And  with  these  words  each  sportsman  selects  his  share 
out  of  the  mass,  and  triumphantly  bears  it  through  the 
streets  of  Rome  to  his  own  palace. 

But  a  yet  more  lively  and  realistic  account  of  one  of 
these  expeditions,  which  took  place  at  Palo  in  the 
autumn  of  1520,  a  year  before  the  Pope's  death,  has 
been  handed  down  to  us  from  the  pen  of  Guido  Silvester, 
commonly  called  Postumo,  a  poet  in  the  train  of  Cardinal 
Rangone  of  Modena,  highly  praised  for  his  talents  by 
the  generous  Ariosto,  who  speaks  of  this  Postumo  as 
doubly  crowned  by  Minerva  and  Phcebus  Apollo.1  The 
writer  first  indites  of  the  gay  procession  issuing  from  the 
town  for  the  day's  sport.  There  is  the  Earthly  Jove, 
"the  Thunderer  of  the  Vatican,"  with  his  portly  form 
enveloped  in  a  robe  of  rich  white  brocade — albo  insignis 
amictu — and  surrounded  by  the  Cardinals  Giulio  de' 
Medici,  Cybo,  Ridolfi  and  Salviati,  all  his  near  relations, 
and  also  by  Bibbiena  and  Rangone,  his  tried  and  devoted 
friends.  There  is  Bernardo  Accolti,  "  the  Only  Aretine," 
swaggering  and  brandishing  a  spear,  which  to  do  full 
justice  to  that  mediocre  genius  he  was  wont  to  employ 
more  skilfully  than  his  quill.  That  perfect  courtier  with 
grave  face,  dark  hair  and  cold  blue  eyes,  Baldassare 
Castiglione ;  the  poets  Molza,  Vida  and  Tebaldeo,  with 
a  host  of  learned  members  of  the  Roman  Parnassus  are 
present ;  but  the  renowned  Bembo  and  his  colleague 
Sadoleto,  being  absent  on  their  master's  political  mis- 
sions, are  sadly  missed  by  the  remainder  of  the  company. 
Again  the  poet  describes  for  us  the  driving  of  the  game 
from  the  enclosed  area ;  the  tense  expectation  of  the 

1  Ad  Petrum  Pactium,  Bossi-Roscoe,  vol.  viii.,  Appendix  CLXIX. 


208  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Pope  and  his  guests  at  the  entrance  of  the  plain ;  and 
the  ensuing  scenes  of  confusion  and  slaughter.  But 
Postumo  mentions  also  certain  incidents  of  the  day's 
sport ;— how  he  himself  is  knocked  down  and  nearly 
killed  by  a  savage  boar  to  the  momentary  alarm  of  the 
Pontiff,  who  has  perceived  the  poet's  danger ;  and  how 
one  of  the  knights,  Licaba  by  name,  actually  spears  a 
valuable  shaggy  hound  in  mistake  for  a  wolf,  which 
causes  much  mirth  to  His  Holiness,  when  shown  the 
carcase  of  the  stupid  blunderer's  "  wolf  ".  Postumo  too  is 
greatly  diverted  at  witnessing  a  fierce  duel  between  a 
certain  Falloppio  of  Modena  (an  exile  from  his  native 
city  on  account  of  a  murder  committed  there)  and  a 
soldier  called  Lica,  who  quarrel  and  finally  come  to 
blows  over  the  disputed  possession  of  a  slain  wild  boar. 
In  the  ensuing  fight  Lica  loses  an  eye  and  is  rescued 
with  no  little  difficulty  from  the  clutches  of  the  brutal 
Falloppio,  to  be  led  away  to  his  patron's  tent  blinded, 
limping  and  howling  with  the  pain.  But  even  more 
amusing  in  Postumo's  opinion  than  poor  Lica's  fate 
appears  the  merry  accident  (jocus)  which  terminated  the 
career  of  Lancetto,  Cardinal  Cornaro's  favourite  kennel- 
man,  celebrated  equally  for  his  skill  in  training  dogs  and 
for  his  drunken  habits  (quo  non  vinosior}.  Lancetto, 
evidently  in  his  cups  at  the  time,  contrives  to  transfix 
with  the  spear  one  of  his  best  hounds,  Argo  by  name, 
whilst  close  upon  the  heels  of  a  wounded  boar.  Hor- 
rified at  his  own  clumsiness  and  maddened  by  the  fumes 
of  the  wine  he  has  lately  swallowed,  Lancetto  with  a 
mighty  effort  must  needs  leap  right  upon  the  back  of  the 
flying  boar,  and  try  to  strangle  it  by  squeezing  its  gullet 
with  both  his  sinewy  hands.  But  the  tortured  quarry 
soon  succeeds  in  flinging  its  human  rider  to  earth,  where- 
upon it  gores  the  prostrate  body  from  head  to  foot,  till 


LEO'S  HUNTING  209 

life  is  extinct.  Lancetto's  companions  at  length  slay  the 
infuriated  animal  and  carry  the  mangled  corpse  of 
Cornaro's  kennel-man  to  his  master's  pavilion,  where 
the  Venetian  cardinal  orders  his  dead  servant's  visage 
to  be  washed  with  the  best  of  old  wine,  whilst  he  pauses 
for  a  moment  to  compose  a  suitable  epitaph  to  place  on 
Lancetto's  tomb  : — "  Here  lies  Lancetto,  whose  death- 
wound  was  the  work  of  a  wild  boar,  or  rather  of  the 
wine-cup  "-1  Such  a  jovial  adventure  as  this  quite  throws 
into  the  shade  the  drolleries  of  Fra  Mariano  (Charmides), 
who  is  engaged  in  quizzing  that  handsome  but  petulant 
youth,  Valerio  Orsini,  for  being  unable  to  restrain  his 
tears  at  losing  the  stag  he  has  been  pursuing.  But  the 
bag  is  enormous,  and  as  the  party  returns  to  Palo,  His 
Holiness  can  be  overheard  muttering  to  himself  from 
time  to  time,  "  What  a  glorious  day !  " 

Now  is  the  right  moment  for  a  prelate  desiring 
another  eommendam,  or  the  courtier  with  a  hankering 
after  some  coveted  lordship,  to  approach  and  present  the 
ready-drawn  parchment,  which  requires  the  pontifical 
signature  alone  to  make  its  terms  binding.  Leo  is  in 
high  good  humour,  and  therefore  signs  anything  and 
everything  that  is  placed  before  him,  nor  is  he  sparing 
of  genial  smiles  to  his  cunning  suppliants.  How  different 
is  the  behaviour  of  His  Holiness  on  an  evening  when 
the  day's  sport  has  been  poor !  Scowls  and  bitter 
sarcasm  followed  by  a  sharp  refusal  are  pretty  sure  to 
fall  upon  any  indiscreet  applicant  on  such  an  occasion, 
no  matter  how  simple  or  necessary  the  request.  "  It  is 
quite  incredible,"  observes  the  learned  Paolo  Giovio, 
who  elsewhere  comments  on  his  master's  invariable 
courtesy,  "that  after  an  ill  day's  hunting  he  should 

1 ...  Hie  Lancettus  ab  apro 
Sed  magis  a  vino  saucius  ora  jacet. 


210  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

exhibit  so  much  disappointment  and  annoyance  both  in 
his  face  and  in  -his  temper."  But  sport  and  weather 
have  alike  proved  propitious  this  fine  November  day,  so 
that  Leo  will  grant  all  demands  with  his  accustomed 
grace  and  generosity. 

Nevertheless,  the  day's  adventures  are  not  quite 
exhausted,  although  the  shades  of  evening  are  beginning 
to  fall,  for  suddenly  a  buzzard  is  spied  aloft  hovering 
against  the  gold  and  crimson  of  the  western  sky. 
Promptly  the  falconer  of  Cardinal  Orsini  releases  his 
master's  best  peregrine,  which  darts  upward  in  pursuit 
of  the  bigger  hawk  and  sets  to  attack  its  less  active 
opponent  with  beak,  wings  and  talons.  But  whilst  the 
whole  party  is  gazing  rapturously  at  this  aerial  combat, 
suddenly  there  sails  into  ken  an  immense  eagle,  which 
in  its  turn  assails  the  Cardinal's  falcon.  In  vain  does 
the  anxious  strozziere  sound  the  accustomed  call  of 
return ;  the  plucky  falcon  engages  in  battle  with  the 
king  of  birds,  and  is  incontinently  slain.  Headlong 
falls  the  lifeless  mass  of  blood-stained  feathers  with  a 
thud  to  the  ground  at  the  feet  of  its  weeping  trainer, 
whilst  Orsini  himself  proceeds  to  moralise  on  the  high 
spirit  of  his  unfortunate  pet.  The  gallant  falcon  shall 
be  buried,  he  declares,  with  full  honours  of  war  upon 
the  battlement  of  some  lofty  tower.  Her  chains  and 
jesses  shall  lie  beside  her  in  the  tomb,  and  an  achieve- 
ment bearing  the  proud  arms  of  Orsini  shall  mark  the 
spot,  above  which  skulls  of  doves  and  herons  shall  yearly 
be  suspended  for  a  votive  remembrance  of  the  bird's 
past  victories. 

As  in  Molosso's  poem,  the  banquet,  the  jest,  the 
music  and  the  recitation,  which  crown  the  labours  of  the 
day,  are  duly  recorded ;  but  in  this  case  it  is  Messer 
Tiresia,  a  canon  of  Bologna  and  a  papal  secretary,  who 


LEO'S  HUNTING  211 

delights  the  august  company  with  choice  verses  composed 
by  the  absent  Bembo,  whose  genial  presence  and  witty 
conversation  are  so  sorely  missed. 

However  interesting  they  may  be  deemed  from  an 
historical  or  social  point  of  view,  these  contemporary 
accounts  of  Leo's  hunting-parties  must  inspire  disgust 
in  modern  minds  and  serve  to  prejudice  us  against  a 
Pope,  who  not  only  delighted  in  these  crude  exhibitions 
of  wholesale  slaughter,  but  also  squandered  vast  sums 
of  the  public  revenue  upon  their  arrangements.  We 
are  shocked,  and  rightly  so,  by  the  callous  descriptions 
of  Postumo  and  Molosso,  and  still  more  so  by  the 
account  of  a  certain  driving  of  big  game  at  Santa 
Marinella  on  the  coast,  whereat  numbers  of  stags,  goats 
and  boar  were  hurried  down  a  steep  bosky  ravine  head- 
long into  the  sea.  Close  to  the  shore  the  papal  court, 
stationed  in  boats,  was  awaiting  the  appearance  of  the 
game,  which  was  slaughtered  amidst  the  wildest  scenes 
of  noise  and  confusion,  whilst  His  Holiness,  seated 
comfortably  in  a  luxurious  barge  amidst  the  blood- 
stained surf,  eagerly  followed  every  detail  of  a  revolting 
spectacle,  worthy  the  eyes  of  a  Nero  or  a  Commodus. 
Nevertheless,  we  must  digress  for  a  moment  to  remark 
that  the  cruelty  and  barbarism  we  so  condemn  were 
necessarily  inseparable  from  the  hunts  of  the  Renais- 
sance ;  nor  must  we  forget  that  the  dexterous  use  of 
modern  fire-arms  has  deprived  sport  on  a  large  scale 
of  some  of  its  objectionable  features,  seeing  that  the 
breech-loading,  self-ejecting  guns  of  to-day  kill  with 
merciful  precision,  whereas  four  centuries  ago  the  victims 
of  large  hunting-parties,  such  as  Leo  attended,  were  torn 
or  hacked  for  hours  with  clumsy  sword  or  spear.  As 
a  son  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  the  Pope  had  in- 


2i2  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

herited  a  natural  taste  for  sport  in  the  brutal  forms  then 
of  necessity  prevalent ;  and  as  a  Cardinal  there  were 
none  to  forbid,  and  very  few  to  censure  the  Medici's 
open  indulgence  in  this  form  of  amusement,  however 
unseemly  in  a  Churchman.  And  again,  most  of  the 
younger  cardinals  of  princely  rank,  his  own  friends  and 
companions,  were  inordinately  devoted  to  sport  in  every 
form,  so  .that  Medici  was  only  too  ready  from  natural 
inclination  to  follow  their  bad  example.  But  as  Supreme 
Pontiff  he  might  and  should  have  set  his  face  firmly 
against  such  waste  of  time  and  treasure,  to  say  nothing 
of  loss  of  reputation,  by  refraining  from  pastimes  which 
were  expressly  forbidden  by  the  canon  law  and  were 
highly  indecorous  in  one  holding  the  most  exalted  office 
in  Christendom.  But  instead  of  setting  a  good  example, 
Leo,  after  one  feeble  effort  at  self-control,  yielded 
completely  to  a  temptation  which  his  wealth  and  position 
now  offered.  Nor  was  there  a  shadow  of  excuse  for 
his  doing  so,  since  on  account  of  his  physical  infirmity 
he  was  unable  to  engage  actively  in  the  sport  which  he 
patronised,  or  to  share  in  its  real  dangers  or  fatigues, 
which  form  the  usual  excuses  urged  for  an  excessive 
devotion  to  the  chase.  On  the  contrary,  seated  in 
comfortable  security  he  used  invariably  to  obtain  his 
satisfaction  from  watching  thus  the  scenes  of  torture  and 
massacre  enacted  below,  whilst  his  active  participation 
was  confined  to  giving  the  required  coup  de  grace  to 
some  stag  or  boar  that  had  become  entangled  in  the 
enclosing  bonds.1  On  such  occasions,  Leo  would  de- 
scend from  his  palfrey  and  be  led  in  state  to  the  spot 
where  the  wounded  beast  was  struggling  hopelessly 
in  the  toils.  With  spear  poised  in  his  right  hand,  and 
with  the  left  hand  employed  in  holding  the  spy-glass  to 

1  A.  Luzio,  p.  64,  note  3. 


LEO'S  HUNTING  213 

guide  the  coming  thrust,  His  Holiness  amid  applause  of 
sycophants  and  servants  would  advance  to  deliver  the 
final  death-blow  to  the  exhausted  animal.  It  is  therefore 
obvious  that  it  was  the  actual  bloodshed  and  brutality 
of  the  chase  rather  than  its  attendant  risks  and  hardships, 
which  urged  Leo  to  these  hunts ;  it  was  the  constant 
spectacle  of  indiscriminate  slaughter  and  not  any  genuine 
desire  for  the  pure  air  and  free  life  of  the  open  country 
(as  his  eulogistic  biographer  Giovio  asserts),  which  in- 
duced the  Pontiff  to  waste  so  much  time  due  to  public 
business  and  his  holy  office.  And  yet  Count  Bossi,  the 
able  Italian  commentator  of  Roscoe's  biography  of  Leo 
X.,  expressly  defends  the  Pope's  conduct  for  this  very 
reason  ;  declaring  him  blameless,  since  he  only  honoured 
the  sport  by  his  august  presence,  "with  all  the  dignity 
appertaining  to  his  exalted  office  ".*  Such  is  a  modern 
Italian  view  of  the  ethics  of  papal  hunting. 

But  if  it  was  unseemly,  as  we  have  already  shown, 
for  the  Supreme  Pontiff  to  be  hunting  at  all,  how  much 
the  more  severely  is  Leo  to  be  judged  for  allowing  this 
forbidden  pastime  to  become  a  positive  craving,  an 
obsession,  pervading  his  very  existence,  diminishing  the 
papal  revenues,  of  which  he  was  but  the  temporary 
guardian,  and  setting  a  terrible  example  of  selfish  frivolity 
to  the  whole  Christian  world,  of  which  he  was  the  ac- 
knowledged Head,  and  thereby  helping  not  a  little  to 
foment  that  growing  spirit  of  disaffection  and  schism  which 
was  so  soon  to  rend  in  twain  Western  Christendom? 
As  Leo's  brilliant,  merry,  cultured  life  draws  towards  its 
close,  it  becomes  instructive  and  also  sad  to  observe 
this  desire  for  sport  assuming  proportions  that  would 
have  been  reprehensible  in  a  secular  prince,  and  there- 
fore tenfold  more  culpable  in  the  case  of  a  Supreme 

1  Bossi-Roscoe,  vol.  xii.,  p.  130. 


214  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Pontiff.  Like  the  bad  King  Rufus  of  England  who 
loved  the  brave  red  deer  like  his  own  children  (and 
certainly  far  better  than  his  own  subjects),  did  Leo  grow 
more  and  more  enamoured  of  venary  in  its  most  brutalising 
forms.  There  appears  something  ominous  in  the  simple 
circumstance  that  during  the  very  last  days  of  Leo's 
reign,  at  a  moment  when  all  Europe  was  seething 
with  ecclesiastical  revolt  and  secular  aggression,  the 
Supreme  Pontiff  can  yet  find  leisure  and  means  to 
squander  large  sums  on  hawks  for  the  papal  mews.  On 
2oth  November,  1521,  the  faithful  Serapica  makes  his  last 
entry  in  the  private  spese  of  his  magnificent  patron : 
— "To  John  Brand  of  Malines,  30  ducats  apiece  for 
six  jer-falcons ;  10  ducats  each  for  two  goshawks ; 
15  ducats  for  a  tiercel  jer-falcon,  and  10  for  a  young 
goshawk  ;  that  is  in  all  225  ducats  V  Eleven  days  later, 
and  the  Papal  Nimrod  is  lying  dead  in  a  chamber  of 
the  Apostolic  Palace. 

1  Gnoli,  Le  Caccie  d'  Leone  X. 


CHAPTER  IX 
LEO  X.  AND  RAPHAEL 

During  my  residence  in  Rome,  I  often  saw  the  great  Raphael 
on  public  occasions  walk  from  his  house,  near  the  rising  edifice  of 
St.  Peter's,  to  the  court  of  Leo  X.,  followed  by  forty  or  fifty  artists,  so 
generally  was  his  superiority  acknowledged.  I  also  frequently  met 
him  at  the  Vatican.  His  celebrity  made  every  stranger  seek  his  ac- 
quaintance. His  elegant  figure  and  interesting  physiognomy  at- 
tracted attention,  while  the  fulness  of  his  conversation  and  the  amenity 
of  his  manners  fascinated  the  spectators  of  the  divine  creations  of  his 
pencil.  I  observed  with  pleasure  his  manner  of  communicating  in- 
formation to  his  pupils.  It  was  neither  the  condescension  of  the 
pride  of  knowledge,  nor  the  forced  and  brief  precepts  of  the  hired 
lecturer,  but  the  ample  and  generous  communication  of  a  mind  as 
liberal  as  it  was  enlightened.  He  not  only  quitted  his  own  perform- 
ances to  instruct  theirs,  but  he  freely  gave  his  pupils  designs  of  his  own 
composition,  and  hence  it  was  that  in  my  travels  through  Europe  I 
found  so  many  of  his  sketches  in  the  cabinets  of  the  curious.  The 
kindness  of  Raphael's  disposition  diffused  itself  among  his  scholars. 
They  copied  his  manners  as  well  as  his  mind,  and  this  honourable 
emulation  therefore  never  degenerated  into  illiberality  or  envy  (The 
Travels  of  Theodore  Ducas). 

E~  0  X.  was  undoubtedly  "the  incarnation  of  the 
Renaissance,  not  in  its  purest  but  in  its  most 
brilliant  form,"  and  the  world  in  consequence 
still  owes  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  liberality  and 
fine  taste  of  the  first  Medicean  Pontiff,  whose  name  will 
ever  remain  associated  with  that  of  the  divine  Raphael 
of  Urbino.     Yet  the  same  carping  criticism   that   has 
been  passed  upon  his  choice  in  literature  has  been  even 
applied  to  the  Pope's  patronage  in  the  domain  of  art. 
The  ostensible  reason  for  this  dissatisfaction  is   to   be 

215 


zi6  THE  MEDICI  .POPES 

found  in  the  continued  absence  from  the  Roman  court 
during  his  reign  of  two  out  of  the  three  leading  Italian 
artists  of  the  day,  namely,  Lionardo  da  Vinci  and 
Michelangelo  Buonarotti.  Neglect  of  the  latter,  the 
Pope's  own  fellow-citizen,  has  been  constantly  urged  by 
modern  writers  as  an  instance  of  Leo's  conspicuous  lack 
of  real  artistic  insight  or  knowledge.  Nevertheless,  it 
is  not  hard  to  comprehend  the  Medici's  failure  to  ap- 
preciate the  stupendous  genius  of  Michelangelo,  whose 
gigantic  conceptions  in  stone  or  marble  possessed  small 
attraction  for  this  papal  patron,  who  seems  to  have  been 
less  partial  to  sculpture  than  to  the  sister  arts  of  painting, 
engraving  and  architecture.  Like  most  short-sighted 
persons,  Leo  found  a  surer  delight  in  the  minute  and 
delicate  productions  of  jewellers  and  goldsmiths  such  as 
Tagliacarne  and  Caradosso,  which  he  loved  to  examine 
closely  with  spy-glass  or  spectacles,  than  in  the  vast 
naked  groups  of  statuary  which  the  Florentine  master 
was  then  devising  for  the  monument  of  the  late  Pope 
Julius.  Nor  was  Leo's  antipathy  due  merely  to  artistic 
reasons,  for  the  two  qualities  which  he  specially  demanded 
in  the  recipients  of  his  bounty,  alacrity  and  an  unques- 
tioning obedience,  were  utterly  absent  in  the  egotistic 
temperament  of  the  fierce  Michelangelo.  The  genial 
but  erratic  Pope  had  therefore  small  sympathy  with  the 
conscientious  but  morose  Florentine,  ever  nursing  some 
grievance,  real  or  imaginary,  against  his  employer  for 
the  time  being,  and  resenting  the  scant  deference  that 
was  usually  displayed  towards  the  leading  artists  of  the 
period,  who  were  then  held  on  a  lower  level  than  the 
scholars  and  poets  of  the  court  and  were  treated  as 
skilled  decorators  rather  than  as  distinguished  men  of 
genius.  With  the  fiery  Julius  II.,  himself  of  plebeian 
origin,  Michelangelo  had  been  more  content,  for  in  that 


LEO  X.  AND  RAPHAEL  217 

case  both  patron  and  sculptor  were  moved  by  the  same 
combative  and  impatient  spirit ;  both  shared  some 
measure  of  that  terribilitci,  which  was  so  common  a 
characteristic  of  their  turbulent  epoch.  How  different 
in  the  eyes  of  the  fastidious  and  cultured  Medici  was 
the  behaviour  of  the  discreet  young  painter  from  Urbino  ! 
If  the  great  Florentine  was  always  -alert  to  find  some 
cause  of  discontent,  the  new  master  from  Urbino  ever 
showed  himself  anxious  to  please  and  ready  to  under- 
take any  task  from  the  most  profound  to  the  most 
trivial,  from  decorating  the  halls  of  the  Apostolic  palace 
to  designing  the  drop-scene  for  a  licentious  farce,  from 
painting  the  Supreme  Pontiff  himself  to  drawing  the 
likeness  of  poor  Baraballo's  elephant ; — anything,  in 
short,  that  the  capricious  mind  of  the  mighty  Leo  might 
care  to  suggest  on  the  spur  of  the  moment.  No  wonder 
then  that  the  Medici  openly  preferred  the  divine  Raphael 
to  the  unique  Florentine,  seeing  that  Leo's  own  easy- 
going nature  was  not  a  little  reflected  in  that  of  the  hand- 
some and  charming  young  painter  from  Urbino.  Silent 
and  self-centred,  the  great  sculptor  was  wont  to  regard 
with  bitterness  of  envy  the  rapid  progress  of  his  fascinat- 
ing rival,  now  basking  in  the  full  sunshine  of  the  papal 
favour,  whose  steps  were  everywhere  dogged  by  a 
crowd  of  admiring  pupils  hanging  intent  on  every 
sentence  that  fell  from  the  lips  of  Raphael.  "You  go 
about  your  business,"  said  the  jealous  Michelangelo  with 
a  sneer,  "like  a  general  with  his  staff!  "-—"And  you," 
was  the  prompt  retort  of  the  artist  thus  needlessly  pro- 
voked, "all  solitary  like  the  hangman!" 

Leo,  however,  did  give  employment  to  his  great 
fellow-citizen,  who  at  the  Pope's  suggestion  reluctantly 
abandoned  his  cherished  design  of  completing  the 
colossal  monument  for  the  late  Julius,  in  order  to  under- 


2i8  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

take  the  building  of  a  fa£ade  for  the  basilica  of  San 
Lorenzo  in  Florence,  and  on  this  task  Michelangelo  was 
nominally  at  least  engaged  from  the  year  1515  until  the 
close  of  the  Medici's  reign.  Certain  biographers  of 
Michelangelo  have  hinted  that  Leo  was  not  in  earnest 
when  he  gave  this  commission,1  yet  it  is  hard  to  admit 
the  possibility  of  such  a  theory,  seeing  the  peculiar  con- 
nection of  this  famous  church  with  the  Medici  and  the 
boundless  pride  of  the  Medici  themselves  in  their  House. 
But  it  would  be  futile  to  dwell  here  on  the  miserable 
story  concerning  the  precious  years  of  the  sculptor's  life 
that  were  irretrievably  wasted  amongst  the  marble 
quarries  of  Carrara,  whilst  obtaining  material  for  this 
fa9ade  ordered  by  the  Pope.  It  is  sufficient  to  state  the 
dismal  fact  that  throughout  the  nine  years'  pontificate 
of  the  Papal  Maecenas  the  marble  statue  of  the  Risen 
Christ  in  the  Roman  church  of  Santa  Maria  sopra 
Minerva  was  almost  the  sole  work  of  note  produced 
by  the  chisel  of  Michelangelo.  By  a  strange  coincidence 
this  figure,  which  is  commonly  accounted  one  of  the 
master's  least  happy  efforts,  stands  close  to  the  tomb  of 
the  Medicean  Pope,  who,  whatever  excuse  may  be  ad- 
vanced on  his  behalf,  certainly  failed  to  avail  himself 
of  the  most  profound  genius  in  all  Italy.  And  even 
making  full  allowance  for  the  incompatibility  of  temper 
in  artist  and  patron,  this  treatment  appears  all  the  more 
remarkable,  since  the  Pope  had  known  Michelangelo 
from  boyhood  (the  two  men  being  almost  of  an  age) ; 
indeed,  their  acquaintance  dated  from  the  early  days 
when  the  sculptor,  then  a  promising  lad,  was  studying  his 
art  in  the  gardens  of  the  Magnificent  Lorenzo,  before 
ever  Leo  had  been  raised  to  the  dignity  of  the  purple. 

1  For   the  cause   of  this   theory,    see  J.   A.   Symonds,    Life   of 
Michelangelo,  vol.  i.,  p.  350. 


LEO  X.  AND  RAPHAEL  219 

In  spite  of  all  this  regrettable  waste  of  time  and  this 
misunderstanding,  let  us  hope  however  that  the  Venetian 
painter,  Sebastiano  del  Piombo,  was  sincere  when  he 
wrote  to  the  offended  master,  on  27th  October,  1520,  a 
little  more  than  a  twelvemonth  before  the  Pope's  death  ; — 
"  I  know  in  what  esteem  the  Pope  holds  you,  and  when 
he  talks  of  you,  it  would  seem  that  he  were  speaking 
about  a  brother,  almost  with  tears  in  his  eyes ;  for  he 
has  told  me  that  you  were  brought  up  together  as  boys, 
and  shows  that  he  knows  and  loves  you.  But  you 
frighten  everybody,  even  Popes !  "  Yet  in  any  case  it 
was  a  heavy  loss  to  posterity  that  Leo  omitted  to  turn  to 
account  the  talents  of  Michelangelo  as  he  did  those  of 
Raphael,  for  the  melancholy  fact  remains  prominent  that 
the  reign  of  the  splendid  Leo  constitutes  a  barren  spot 
in  the  fertile  garden  of  Michelangelo's  career. 

It  is  a  pleasant  relief  to  turn  from  this  sorry  tale  of 
neglect  and  misunderstanding  to  the  account  of  Leo's 
patronage  of  Raphael.  Here  at  all  events  the  artistic 
temperament  of  the  second  son  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnifi- 
cent found  full  scope  in  turning  the  powers  of  the  wonder- 
ful painter  of  Urbino  to  the  glorification  of  himself  and 
his  House  in  the  exquisite  productions,  which  all  admire 
to-day  in  those  halls  of  the  Apostolic  palace,  that  are 
themselves  called  the  Stanze  di  Raffaelo,  in  honour  of 
him  whose  genius  is  therein  shown  at  its  best  and 
brightest.  Only  seven  years  younger  than  the  Pontiff 
he  was  permitted  to  serve  so  faithfully,  Raffaelo  Santi, 
or  Sanzio,  was  born  in  the  old  hill-set  city  of  Urbino 
on  the  sixth  day  of  April,  1483.  The  little  capital 
was  then  in  the  heyday  of  its  independence,  whilst  the 
court  of  its  dukes  of  the  ancient  and  honoured  House  of 
Montefeltre  was  the  centre  of  an  artistic  and  intellectual 

1 J.  A.  Symonds,  Life  of  Michelangelo,  vol.  i.,  p.  347. 


220  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

life,  whereof  Raphael's  bosom  friend,  Baldassare  Cas- 
tiglione,  has  left  us  such  charming  recollections  in  the 
pages  of  his  Cortigiano.  Sprung  of  a  respectable  but 
by  no  means  noble  stock,  the  youthful  Raffaelo  Santi, 
better  known  in  latter  days  as  the  divine  Raphael  of 
Urbino,  undoubtedly  learned  the  elegant  arts  of  the 
polite  world  of  his  time  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  ducal 
court  of  the  Montefeltre,  who  in  the  painter's  childhood 
frequently  entertained  in  their  beautiful  palace  the  exiled 
members  of  the  House  of  Medici,  so  that  Raphael  must 
have  been  slightly  acquainted  with  the  Cardinal  and  his 
brother  Giuliano  at  a  very  early  age.  The  Medici  were 
undoubtedly  glad  to  welcome  the  promising  young 
painter,  when  in  the  year  1508  he  made  his  appearance 
in  Rome  as  a  rising  artist,  whose  increasing  fame  was 
likely  soon  to  eclipse  the  renown  of  his  late  master, 
Pietro  Perugino.  In  the  Eternal  City  the  ever-growing 
reputation  of  this  youthful  genius  from  Urbino  scarcely 
seemed  to  need  the  assistance  of  his  influential  supporter, 
the  great  architect  Bramante,  for  Raphael  quickly  ob- 
tained numerous  commissions  in  high  quarters,  amongst 
his  many  patrons  being  the  Cardinal  Giovanni  de'  Medici, 
who  speedily  formed  the  loftiest  opinion  of  his  capa- 
bilities. In  all  probability  it  was  Raphael  who  now  de- 
signed for  the  Cardinal's  titular  church  of  Santa  Maria 
in  Domenica  on  the  deserted  Coelian  Hill  its  charming 
little  portico  with  the  five  arches,  above  which  appears 
the  inscription  that  tells  the  stranger  of  the  Medici's 
bounty  in  restoring  this  ancient  fabric.1  And  it  was 
probably  also  by  Raphael's  advice  that  the  marble  copy 
of  an  antique  ship  was  erected  in  front  of  its  facade,  a 
circumstance  which  has  gained  for  this  church  the  local 

1  Divae  Virgini  Templumin  Domenica  dirutumjo.  Medices  Diac. 
Card,  instauravit. 


LEO  X.  AND  RAPHAEL  221 

name  of  "  La  Navicella".  This  tasteful  restoration  of 
an  ancient  Roman  basilica  was  of  course  but  a  trifling 
event  in  the  midst  of  innumerable  commissions  of  far 
greater  importance ;  for  in  addition  to  other  duties 
Raphael  had  already  been  entrusted  by  Julius  II.,  on  the 
warm  recommendation  of  Bramante,  with  the  re-de- 
coration of  the  official  apartments  of  the  Vatican,  although 
these  rooms  were  largely  covered  with  the  frescoes  of 
Peruzzi,  of  Sodoma  and  of  Perugino,  the  new  master's 
own  teacher,  whose  influence  can  so  easily  be  traced  in 
the  earlier  productions  of  his  brilliant  pupil.  With  that 
naive  modesty  which  was  characteristic  of  his  sweet 
nature,  Raphael  pleaded  earnestly  for  the  retention  of 
these  beautiful  but  now  despised  frescoes,  and  it  is  solely 
due  to  the  unselfish  entreaties  of  the  Prince  of  Painters 
that  any  portion  of  these  already  existing  works  was 
spared  in  the  Halls  of  the  Incendio,  the  Eliodoro  and 
the  Segnatura. 

Without  digressing  further  concerning  his  achieve- 
ments under  Julius  II.,  it  will  be  sufficient  for  us  to  state 
that  at  the  Pope's  death  in  the  early  spring  of  1513, 
Raphael,  who  had  not  then  passed  his  thirtieth  birthday, 
had  already  completed  the  decoration  of  the  whole  of 
the  Sala  della  Segnatura1  with  those  splendid  semi- 
classical,  semi-theological  compositions,  which  are  perhaps 
the  most  truly  spiritual  in  feeling  of  all  his  frescoes  in 
the  Vatican,  and  are  generally  held  in  the  highest  esteem 
by  modern  critics.  In  the  adjoining  Sala  di  Eliodoro 
he  had  likewise  finished  his  glorious  Expulsion  of  Helio- 
dorus  from  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  together  with  the 
still  more  lovely  Miracle  of  Bolsena,  two  faultless 
masterpieces  which  represent  the  highest  level  reached 

xSo  called  from  the  signing  (Segnatura)  of  the  various  papal 
briefs  and  documents  in  this  chamber. 


222  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

in  fresco  and  which  incidentally  confer  an  unmerited 
immortality  upon  the  bloodthirsty  old  Pontiff,  who  was 
paying  the  master  the  not  over-generous  sum  of  1200 
ducats  for  each  room  thus  adorned  with  the  most  beautiful 
conceptions  that  could  possibly  emanate  from  any  human 
brain.  For  the  tall  venerable  figure  of  the  warrior 
Pope  is  made  to  appear  prominent  in  both  these  magni- 
ficent compositions ;  borne  aloft  in  full  panoply  of 
pontifical  state,  Julius  surveys  with  kindling  eye  the 
discomfiture  of  the  sacrilegious  invader  of  the  Jewish 
sanctuary,  much  as  he  would  have  regarded  the  butchery 
of  every  barbarian  Frank  or  Spaniard  still  remaining  on 
the  sacred  soil  of  his  own  Italy.  The  painter  was  still 
engaged  upon  this  chamber  when  the  Pope's  decease 
forced  him  to  suspend  the  work,  until  such  time  as  the 
result  of  the  sitting  conclave  of  March,  1513,  was  made 
known — a  most  critical  and  anxious  period  in  the  career 
of  Raphael,  who  was  so  deeply  engrossed  in  the  task 
which  was  intended  to  rival,  if  not  to  surpass,  the  mighty 
achievements  of  Michelangelo  in  the  Sistine  Chapel 
hard  by. 

The  subsequent  election  of  Giovanni  de'  Medici  to 
the  vacant  throne  at  once  put  an  end  to  the  artist's 
suspense,  for  in  Leo  X.  he  felt  certain  of  gaining  a 
sympathetic  and  generous  patron.  Even  were  he  not  al- 
ready possessed  of  so  many  powerful  and  devoted  friends, 
Raphael  would  soon  have  won  the  favour  of  the  new 
Pope,  "for  not  only  had  he  become  the  most  celebrated 
painter  of  his  day,  but  also  the  most  finished  courtier. 
Left  to  himself  whilst  still  a  boy,  the  young  Urbinese 
had  felt  the  necessity  of  developing  those  diplomatic 
qualities  wherewith  Nature  had  so  richly  endowed  him."1 
Indeed,  Leo,  as  we  shall  presently  show,  proved  all  too 

1  Muntz. 


LEO  X.  AND  RAPHAEL  223 

appreciative  a  patron  of  the  master,  who  was  evidently 
a  man  after  his  own  heart,  combining,  as  Raphael  did, 
supreme  genius  with  the  graceful  manners  of  the  accom- 
plished courtier  and  possessed  of  the  utmost  willingness 
to  work  in  addition  to  his  marvellous  capacity  for  every 
variety  of  task.  He  was  courtesy  itself — la gentilezza 
stessa — as  Vasari,  no  blind  admirer,  was  fain  to  admit ; 
"no  less  excellent  than  graceful,  he  was  endowed  by 
Nature  with  all  that  modesty  and  goodness,  which  may 
be  occasionally  perceived  in  those  favoured  persons, 
who  enhance  the  gracious  sweetness  of  a  disposition 
more  than  usually  gentle  by  the  fair  ornament  of  a  win- 
ning charm,  always  ready  to  conciliate  and  constantly 
giving  proof  of  the  most  refined  consideration  for  all 
persons  and  under  every  circumstance".1 

With  zest  the  happy  artist  resumed  his  interrupted 
labours  upon  his  uncompleted  fresco  in  the  Stanza  di 
Eliodoro,  the  March  of  Attila  upon  Rome,  which  is 
merely  an  allegorical  painting  of  the  recent  defeat  of 
the  French  at  Novara.  Before  the  gates  of  Rome, 
whose  ancient  walls  and  aqueducts  are  clearly  delineated 
in  the  background,  the  Pope  St.  Leo  advances  to 
forbid  the  impious  king  of  the  invading  Huns  to  enter 
the  Holy  City,  whilst  the  Pontiff's  action  is  supported 
by  the  appearance  of  the  avenging  Apostles  Peter  and 
Paul,  who  hover  overhead  in  a  blaze  of  golden  light. 
But  the  artist  has  made  no  secret  of  his  open  intention 
to  magnify  the  deeds  of  the  Medici  under  this  transparent 
guise.  St.  Leo  is  in  fact  an  excellent  portrait  of  Leo  X. 
in  shining  robes  and  mounted  on  the  milk-white  palfrey 
that  had  borne  him  on  the  field  of  Ravenna,  whilst  the 
discomfited  barbarian  monarch,  shrinking  in  terror  be- 
fore the  heavenly  effulgence  shed  by  the  angry  Apostles, 

1  Vita  di  Raffaello  Sanzio. 


224  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

is  none  other  than  the  Most  Christian  King,  Louis  XII. 
of  France.  The  papal  cross-bearer,  who  gazes  with 
rapturous  awe  at  the  splendid  figure  of  the  Pontiff,  is 
represented  by  Raphael  himself,  and  close  to  him  appears 
a  somewhat  stolid  cardinal  seated  on  a  mule,  whose 
features  again  recall  those  of  the  Medicean  Pope.  This 
remarkable  double  representation  of  Leo  both  as  Pontiff 
and  as  Cardinal  in  a  single  group  has  given  rise  to  the 
theory  that  Raphael,  who  had  already  completed  a 
portion  of  this  fresco  at  the  date  of  the  death  of  Julius 
II.,  added  the  portrait  of  the  newly  elected  Pope,  whom 
the  painter  had  lately  witnessed  proceeding  in  full  state 
from  the  Vatican  to  the  Lateran  in  the  famous  pageant 
of  the  Sacro  Possesso.1  Certainly  we  have  in  this  picture 
a  clear  portrait  of  the  Medici  as  he  rode  across  Rome 
on  that  memorable  occasion,  clad  in  the  white  and  gold 
pontifical  vestments  and  with  the  jewelled  tiara  on  his 
head.  In  the  same  hall,  at  right  angles  to  this  fresco, 
Raphael  added  the  striking  Deliverance  of  St.  Peter, 
one  of  his  best  known  and  most  popular  works,  wherein 
under  the  incident  of  the  Angel  leading  the  Apostle  out 
of  prison,  he  recalls  the  escape,  deemed  almost  miraculous 
at  the  time,  of  Leo  X.  himself  a  few  months  before  his 
elevation  to  the  papal  throne.1  The  contemporary 
armour  worn  by  the  Roman  soldiers  in  this  impressive 
composition — an  anachronism  of  which  the  learned 
Raphael  could  only  wittingly  be  guilty — seems  intended 
expressly  to  connect  this  story  from  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  with  the  fortunate  liberation  of  the  captive 
Medici  during  the  retreat  of  the  French  army  from 
Milan  in  the  summer  of  1512. 

In  spite  of  endless  interruptions  caused  by  divergent 

1  See  chapter  v. 


LEO  X.  AND  RAPHAEL  225 

duties,  the  Stanza  di  Eliodoro  was  finished  by  the 
middle  of  the  year  1514,  whereupon  Raphael  set  to 
adorn  the  third  hall,  usually  styled  that  of  the  Incendio, 
because  one  of  its  chief  compositions  commemorates  a 
miraculous  event,  which  is  said  to  have  occurred  under 
Leo  IV.  in  the  ninth  century,  when  a  conflagration  that 
had  broken  out  in  the  Borgo,  or  suburb  lying  round  the 
Vatican,  was  quenched  by  means  of  the  earnest  prayers 
of  that  Pope.  Even  so  unpromising  a  subject  for  artistic 
treatment  has  been  rendered  attractive  through  the 
unique  talent  of  the  painter,  who  in  this  case  presents  us 
with  a  delightful  composition  conceived  in  the  true  spirit 
of  antiquity.  For  Raphael  has  shown  us  here  the 
destruction  of  ancient  Troy  by  fire,  with  naked  figures 
forced  into  graceful  attitudes  at  the  sudden  impulse  of 
alarm ; — there  is  pious  Aeneas  escaping  with  the  aged 
Anchises  on  his  back ;  there  is  the  little  lulus  following 
in  his  sire's  footsteps  and  clasping  the  precious  Lares 
and  Penates  in  his  tiny  arms  ;  there  is  the  unhappy 
Cassandra  mourning  over  her  own  fulfilled  prophecy  of 
impending  disaster,  whilst  in  the  distant  background 
of  this  scene  of  confusion  can  be  observed  the  form  of 
a  mediaeval  Pontiff,  who  tries  to  extinguish  the  raging 
flames  with  outstretched  palms,  as  he  stands  above  the 
portico  of  old  St.  Peter's,  which  was  itself  a  ruin  at  the 
time  this  fresco  was  designed.  More  closely  connected 
with  the  policy  of  Leo  X.  is  the  fine  group  of  the  Coro- 
nation of  Charlemagne,  a  glorious  tribute  to  the  not 
very  creditable  treaty  lately  concluded  between  Pope 
and  French  King  at  Bologna.  In  the  centre  of  this 
great  painting  kneels  the  Emperor  with  the  visage  of 
Francis  of  France  before  the  Medici  depicted  as  his 
predecessor  Leo  III.,  whilst  the  merry  little  page  who 
upholds  the  imperial  mantle  is  Giuliano's  bastard  son, 
15 


226  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

the  future  Cardinal  Ippolito  de'  Medici.1  Facing  this 
fresco  of  the  Emperor's  Coronation  is  the  Victory  of 
Leo  IV.  over  the  Saracens  at  Ostia,  wherein  the 
Medici's  form  is  prominently  displayed,  as  he  sits  in  a 
somewhat  theatrical  pose  attended  by  his  favourite 
counsellors,  Bibbiena  and  Giulio  de'  Medici.  This  hall, 
in  spite  of  its  acknowledged  beauty,  exhibits  only  too 
plainly  the  effects  of  the  high  pressure  of  work  at  which 
the  artist  was  constantly  kept,  for  the  signs  of  the  inferior 
handiwork  of  pupils  are  everywhere  apparent,  causing 
us  to  lament  uselessly  that  the  divine  Raphael  was  not 
permitted  to  secure  the  leisure  requisite  for  the  comple- 
tion of  these  magnificent  creations.  Still  deeper  is  our 
regret  in  the  Sala  di  Costantino,  the  last  and  most 
spacious  of  this  suite  of  official  rooms,  for  in  this  case 
the  hand  of  death  had  already  beckoned  to  the  painter 
before  ever  his  magic  pencil  had  touched  the  walls 
of  this  apartment.  Of  its  decorations,  the  splendid 
Triumph  of  Constantine,  the  most  spirited  and  most 
harmonious  battle-piece  that  ever  was  conceived  in 
imagination,  was  alone  copied  exclusively  from  the 
master's  original  cartoon  by  his  trusted  pupil,  Giulio 
Romano,  whilst  the  remaining  compositions,  interesting 
as  they  are,  owe  nothing  either  to  the  hand  of  Raphael 
or  to  the  bounty  of  Leo  X. 

Apart  from  the  inestimable  artistic  value  of  these 
frescoes,  the  halls  of  the  Segnatura,  the  Eliodoro  and 
the  Incendio  incidentally  present  us  with  a  well-filled 
portrait  gallery  of  those  cardinals  and  bishops,  scholars 
and  diplomatists,  painters  and  poets,  who  thronged  the 
court  of  the  Vatican  during  the  pontificates  of  Julius  II. 
and  Leo  X.,  thereby  affording  us  an  additional  source 
of  interest  and  instruction.  "The  rooms  painted  by 

1  See  chapter  vi. 


LEO  X.  AND  RAPHAEL  227 

Raphael,"  so  writes  the  learned  Bembo  in  one  of  his 
letters  to  the  Cardinal  Bibbiena,  "are  quite  beautiful, 
not  only  on  account  of  the  skill  shown  in  the  execution, 
but  also  on  account  of  the  great  number  of  clergy  whose 
portraits  he  has  introduced."1  We  ourselves  to-day, 
who  can  but  behold  all  this  splendour  after  it  has  been 
dulled  by  centuries  of  neglect  or  injured  by  sacrilegious 
restoration,  and  who  must  perforce  survey  this  shrine  of 
art  in  the  company  of  an  unromantic  train  of  fellow- 
tourists,  of  necessity  find  it  difficult  to  realise  the  original 
appearance  of  this  series  of  paintings  in  their  pristine 
freshness  of  colour.  How  entrancing  must  have  been 
the  aspect  of  these  apartments  when  peopled  with  a 
constant  come-and-go  of  gorgeously  clad  prelates  and 
courtiers,  who  as  they  swept  proudly  through  the  Stanze 
paused  from  time  to  time  to  admire,  to  criticise,  to  com- 
pare, or  to  examine  with  pleasure  or  envy  the  speaking 
likenesses  of  their  friends  or  rivals,  portrayed  on  these 
glowing  walls  by  the  brush  of  the  Prince  of  Painters ! 
On  reflection,  as  we  traverse  these  rooms  we  come 
to  perceive  only  too  clearly  the  havoc  wrought  here 
during  the  passage  of  four  centuries,  and  to  understand 
the  lack  of  a  fit  environment.  With  such  thoughts  in 
our  minds,  we  can  then  enter  into  the  feelings  of  that 
fastidious  scholar  Bembo,  who  considered  these  frescoes 
merely  as  an  adequate  setting  to  the  official  court  life 
of  the  Vatican  in  the  golden  days  of  the  Leonine  Age. 
"The  halls,"  he  writes,  "which  Raphael  has  painted, 
are  already  beautiful  beyond  compare,  but  their  charm 
is  enhanced  not  a  little  by  the  crowds  of  passing  cardinals 
and  prelates." 

From  the  gloomy  grandeur  of  the  Sistine  Chapel, 
peopled  with  Michelangelo's  stately  but  sinister  Prophets 

letter  dated  igth  July,  1517.     Muntz,  p.  154, 


228  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

and  Sibyls,  we  turn  to  enter  a  new  world  of  allegory,  a 
world  of  light  and  gladness,  when  we  ascend  to  the 
Rooms  of  Raphael.  Although  the  beautiful  frescoes  of 
these  halls  are  not  without  their  admitted  defects,  yet 
the  general  impression  produced  on  the  beholder  at 
entering  the  Stanze  is  so  bright  and  joyous,  so  bewilder- 
ingly  full  of  charm,  that  hostile  criticism  is  at  once  dis- 
armed. The  mind  may  become  more  elevated  amongst 
the  Titanic  masterpieces  of  the  Capella  Sistina,  but  the 
human  spirits  are  cheered  and  warmed  in  regarding  this 
succession  of  pictures  which  present  to  us  in  alluring 
form  only  the  pleasant  side  of  the  life  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance.  The  Sistine  Chapel  indeed  reflects  the 
fierce  mind  and  unbending  nature  of  the  rugged  Julius, 
but  the  Stanze  di  Raffaello  are  all  eloquent  of  the  liberal, 
ostentatious,  easy-going,  extravagant  Medici,  who  made 
it  a  fundamental  rule  during  his  short  but  fortunate  reign 
to  avoid  all  unpleasantness  and  to  obtain  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  the  Papacy,  which,  so  he  verily  believed,  Heaven 
itself  had  bestowed  upon  him.  In  these  splendid  halls  the 
divinities  of  Paradise  and  of  Olympus,  the  philosophers 
of  the  antique  world  and  the  confessors  and  martyrs  of 
Christendom,  the  sages  of  Greece  and  Rome  and  the 
poets  of  mediaeval  Italy  meet,  converse  and  argue  to- 
gether in  sweet  reasonableness,  so  that  we  are  shown 
thereby  the  very  essence  of  the  Humanism  of  the  Re- 
naissance, which  did  not  hesitate  to  put  the  virtuous 
counsels  of  Socrates  and  Plato  on  an  equal  footing  with 
the  dour  theology  of  the  Middle  Ages.  No  note  of 
gloom  or  sorrow  or  pain  is  allowed  to  intrude  within 
these  realms  of  bliss  and  brightness.  Everywhere  the 
Church  is  made  to  appear  triumphant,  but  never  does 
that  triumph  suggest  war  or  rapine  in  its  train.  Calmly 
do  the  great  Pontiffs  Julius  and  Leo  watch  the  celestial 


LEO  X.  AND  RAPHAEL  229 

emissaries  scatter  the  evil  forces  of  idolatry  and  dark- 
ness ;  even  the  great  battle-piece  in  the  Hall  of  Con- 
stantine  exhibits  no  gruesome  scenes  of  slaughter,  for 
the  only  harrowing  incident  portrayed  therein  is  the 
pathetic  sight  of  an  old  warrior  bending  in  silent  grief 
over  the  lifeless  form  of  a  standard-bearer  slain  in  the 
flower  of  his  youthful  beauty.  The  Stanze  of  Raphael 
constitute  in  short  an  epic  poem  in  painting  of  the  pre- 
servation of  the  arts,  the  learning,  the  religion,  and  last 
but  not  least  of  the  secular  papacy  of  Italy  from  the 
impious  hands  of  ignorant  and  brutish  barbarians.  And 
this  work  is  accomplished  by  celestial  agency,  whilst  her 
venerable  Pontiffs,  the  guardians  of  threatened  Italy,  the 
seat  of  culture  and  true  religion,  merely  stand  aside,  to 
permit  Peter  and  Paul  with  all  the  heavenly  host  to  carry 
out  the  pious  task  of  deliverance.1  Cheerfulness  and 
confidence  are  the  predominant  notes  in  the  various 
scenes  depicted  by  the  Prince  of  Painters ;  an  all-per- 
vading pessimism  is  the  main  characteristic  of  the  Sistine 
Chapel ;  ~ — it  is  our  peculiar  good  fortune  that  in  these 
latter  days  we  can  derive  an  equal  but  diverse  pleasure 
of  the  intellect  from  the  contemplation  of  each  of  these 
shrines  of  Italian  art. 

Of  the  countless  thousands  who  annually  traverse  this 
world-famous  suite  of  apartments,  few  persons  have  paused 
to  admire  the  exquisite  wood-carving  that  completes  the 
general  scheme  of  their  ornamentation.  Yet  the  doors 
and  shutters  of  these  rooms,  which  were  carved  by 
Giovanni  Barile  of  Siena  under  the  personal  supervision 
of  Raphael,  constitute  of  themselves  a  study  in  Medicean 

1 "  In  the  Stanze  of  Raphael  the  triumphs  of  the  Popedom  over 
all  its  foes  are  set  forth  with  matchless  art  and  with  matchless  unvera- 
city  "  (J.  Bryce,  The  Holy  Roman  Empire,  p.  289). 

-  J.  Michelet,  La  Renaissance. 


23o  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

heraldry,  that  serves  to  link  the  series  of  historical 
frescoes  on  their  glowing  walls  with  the  pontificate  of 
the  Medici.  For  every  panel  is  carved  in  high  relief 
with  designs  that  embody  the  Diamond  with  the  triple 
Plumes,1  the  Broncone,  or  branch,  of  the  young  Lorenzo, 
the  Medicean  lions  with  globes  at  their  feet,  and  of 
course  the  inevitable  ox-yoke  of  Leo  himself  with  his 
favourite  legend  of  Suave;  whilst  in  the  central  panel 
of  each  shutter  a  frieze  of  interlaced  diamond  rings  sur- 
rounds the  papal  tiara  and  the  familiar  shield  with  its  six 
pellets.  The  somewhat  gloomy  ante-chamber  of  the 
papal  pages  and  equerries,  that  lies  between  the  Sala  di 
Costantino  and  the  diminutive  chapel  of  San  Lorenzo 
wherein  Leo  used  daily  to  hear  Mass,  is  likewise  heavily 
enriched  with  the  various  emblems  of  the  Medici.  In 
its  splendid  cassetted  ceiling,  gorgeously  gilded  and 
painted,  the  form  of  the  Medicean  diamond  is  through- 
out utilised  as  a  pendentive,  and  in  the  flat  compart- 
ments of  the  roof  are  everywhere  conspicuous  the  well- 
known  devices  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent  and  of  his 
second  son,  the  Supreme  Pontiff.  The  heraldic  and 
emblematic  wood-carving  in  the  Stanze  di  Raffaelo  may 
be  reckoned  of  trifling  consequence  to  the  passing  visitor, 
yet  in  so  famous  a  place  it  is  interesting  to  note  these 
memorials  of  the  pomp  and  pride  of  the  first  Medicean 
Pope,  to  whose  love  and  patronage  of  art  is  largely  due 
the  very  existence  of  those  masterpieces  of  the  Urbinese 
artist,  which  engross  our  full  attention  to  the  exclusion 
of  their  historical  interest. 

Whilst  he  was  yet  striving  vainly  to  obtain  the 
necessary  time  to  complete  the  paintings  of  the  Stanze, 
the  over-worked  artist  was  commissioned  by  his  ap- 

1  The  motto  of  this  emblem  consists  of  the  erudite  rebus,  Super 
adamas  in  Dennis. 


LEO  X.  AND  RAPHAEL  231 

preciative  but  inexorable  patron  to  adorn  the  newly 
erected  Loggie,  or  open  arcades  that  mask  the  fa£ade 
of  the  palace  overlooking  the  great  courtyard  of  San 
Damaso,  which  their  architect  Bramante  had  left  un- 
finished at  his  death  in  1514.  This  fresh  task,  in  which 
Raphael  was  largely  aided  by  his  talented  pupil,  Giovanni 
da  Udine — the  first  decorator  of  his  day,  though  not 
numbered  in  the  front  rank  of  its  artists — must  have 
proceeded  concurrently  with  the  work  carried  on  in  the 
adjoining  suite  of  the  Stanze,  for  the  so-called  Loggia  of 
Raphael  can  be  entered  from  the  portals  of  the  Sala  di 
Costantino.  This  spacious  and  lofty  gallery,  which  was 
originally  intended  to  lie  open  to  the  strong  light  and 
pure  air  of  Heaven  and  was  only  enclosed  with  glass  in 
the  course  of  the  past  century,  consists  of  thirteen  broad 
bays,  each  of  which  contains  a  domed  ceiling  enriched 
with  four  subjects  selected  from  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  all  treated  with  a  peculiar  charm  and  sim- 
plicity that  have  earned  for  this  series  of  fifty-two  sacred 
pictures  the  well-chosen  title  of  "the  Bible  of  Raphael". 
More  conspicuous,  however,  than  these  frescoes  placed 
high  in  the  domed  ceiling  amidst  the  usual  adjuncts  of 
Medicean  emblems,  are  the  countless  wall-paintings, 
now  terribly  defaced  and  faded  by  centuries  of  ill-treat- 
ment and  neglect,  which  are  well  known  to  artists  from 
the  engravings  of  Volpato  and  Ottaviani.  This  mass  of 
mural  paintings  represents  every  possible  variety  of 
subject,  antique  or  contemporary — gods  and  goddesses, 
nymphs  and  dryads,  peasants  and  monsters,  birds,  beasts, 
and  fishes,  garlands  of  fruit  and  flowers,  fantastic  archi- 
tecture, domestic  implements  of  elegant  form,  and  in 
short  any  and  every  object  or  creature  that  invited 
artistic  treatment.  This  positive  riot  of  the  exuberant 
fancy  of  a  master-mind  was  certainly  the  direct  result  of 


232  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Raphael's  deep  interest  in  the  vanished  life  of  the 
ancient  world,  for  he  had  long  been  an  enthusiastic 
student  of  the  grottesche^  the  classical  wall-paintings  and 
stucco  designs  found  in  the  recently  excavated  halls  of 
the  Palatine  and  the  Coelian.  To  transplant  in  an 
amended  and  yet  more  beautiful  guise  this  long-lost  art 
from  the  decaying  chambers  of  pagan  emperors  to  the 
palace  of  the  Roman  Pontiffbecame  a  cherished  ambition 
of  the  painter,  who  was  not  only  the  chief  artist,  but  also 
the  first  antiquary  of  his  day.  So  changed,  however,  is 
the  aspect  of  this  Loggia  since  the  glazing  of  its  arches 
and  so  hopelessly  ruined  the  Renaissance  grottesche  of 
Raphael  and  Giovanni  da  Udine,  that  we  find  it  very 
difficult  under  present  conditions  to  conjure  up  the  ap- 
pearance of  this  broad  corridor  in  its  original  state  as 
Raphael  designed  and  adorned  it  for  the  Pope.  We 
miss  the  effect  of  the  open  air ;  we  note  the  pitiable  con- 
dition of  the  once  gay  and  glowing  mural  decorations  ; 
and  we  look  in  vain  for  the  splendid  pavement  of  glazed 
and  coloured  tiles,  an  admirable  example  of  Luca  Delia 
Robbia's  art,  which  has  long  since  perished.  The  far- 
famed  Loggia  of  Raphael,  thanks  to  the  ill-usage  of 
man  and  the  vagaries  of  the  Roman  climate,  exhibits 
to  us  in  these  days  but  the  shadow  of  its  pristine  glory. 
So  damaged  in  short  is  this  fine  specimen  of  the  arts 
and  architecture  of  the  Renaissance,  that  we  can  but 
echo  the  lament  of  the  critic  Lanzi,  who  declares  "that 
the  exposure  of  this  gallery  to  the  inclemency  of  the 
weather  has  almost  reduced  it  to  the  squalid  appearance 
of  the  ancient  grotesques ;  but  they  who  saw  it  after  it 
was  finished,  when  the  lustre  of  the  gilding,  the  snowy 
whiteness  of  the  stuccoes,  the  brilliance  of  the  colours, 

1  Hence  the  word  "grotesques,"  the  decorations  found  in   the 
grottc,  as  applied  directly  to  this  style  of  ornament. 


THE    LOGGIA   OF   RAPHAEL 

IN   THE   VATICAN 


LEO  X.  AND  RAPHAEL  233 

and  the  freshness  of  the  marbles  made  it  resplendent 
with  beauty  on  every  side,  must  have  been  struck  with 
amazement  as  at  a  vision  of  Paradise  ",l  Says  Vasari, 
"it  is  impossible  either  to  execute  or  imagine  a  more 
beautiful  work,"  and  with  such  reflections  we  must  try 
to  picture  for  ourselves  the  general  aspect  of  this  gorgeous 
corridor,  as  it  was  originally  conceived  by  the  genius  of 
Raphael  and  embellished  by  the  skill  of  Giovanni  da 
Udine.  In  any  case,  though  it  seems  but  a  wreck  of 
its  former  magnificence,  the  Loggia  has  fared  better  than 
another  celebrated  work  of  the  master  in  the  Vatican, 
the  so-called  Bath-chamber  of  the  Cardinal  Bibbiena. 
This  apartment  in  the  papal  palace  was  undertaken  at 
the  request  of  Raphael's  especial  friend  in  the  Sacred 
College,  Bernardo  Dovizi  of  Bibbiena,  who  himself 
proposed  to  Raphael  the  decoration  of  a  room  in  the 
Vatican  in  imitation  of  one  of  the  frescoed  chambers  re- 
cently unearthed  in  the  ruins  of  the  Palatine.  "Thus 
far  had  I  proceeded,"  writes  Bembo  to  his  friend  Bib- 
biena in  a  letter  dated  i9th  April,  1516,  "when  Raphael 
himself  entered.  He  seems  to  have  guessed  that  I  was 
speaking  of  him  to  you,  so  that  he  begged  me  to  add 
that  he  wished  you  to  tell  him  any  other  subjects  you 
might  desire  to  have  painted  in  your  bath-room.  Send 
him  full  details  of  them  as  soon  as  you  can,  because 
those  designs  already  chosen  will  be  started  upon  the 
walls  this  week."  The  theme  chosen  by  the  witty  and 
learned  cardinal  was  taken  from  the  venue  of  classical 
mythology,  for  he  had  selected  the  story  of  Venus 
and  Cupid,  which,  it  must  be  frankly  admitted,  was 
hardly  suited  to  the  environment  of  the  palace  of  the 
chief  celibate  in  Christendom.  But  the  commission  was 
highly  congenial  to  the  taste  of  the  artist,  whose  de- 

1  History  of  Painting,  vol.  i.,  Roman  Epoch. 


234  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

corations  of  Bibbiena's  bath-room,  marvellously  imbued 
with  the  true  spirit  of  the  antique,  were  greatly  admired 
in  Rome,  and  probably  caused  the  envious  Chigi's  de- 
mand for  the  painting  of  the  allegory  of  Venus,  Cupid 
and  Psyche,  which  the  master  designed  for  the  frieze  of 
a  hall  in  the  Sienese  banker's  splendid  villa  on  the  Tiber.1 
This  room  at  the  Vatican  with  its  exquisite  frescoes  has 
long  been  closed  to  the  public,  ostensibly  on  account  of 
its  almost  ruined  condition,  but  also  perhaps  because  a 
prudish  reticence  refuses  to  allow  even  artists  admission 
to  a  chamber  that  proclaims  only  too  clearly  the  "  pagan  " 
proclivities  of  the  Medicean  Pontiff  and  his  cardinals. 
Fortunately,  copies  have  been  made  from  time  to  time 
of  these  justly  admired  frescoes,  so  that  a  tolerable  idea 
can  still  be  gleaned  therefrom  of  the  original  charm  and 
harmony  of  what  must  have  been  one  of  the  painter's 
finest  works. 

Such,  told  briefly  and  baldly,  is  the  story  of  Raphael's 
main  achievements  in  the  Vatican  during  the  seven 
years  from  1513  to  1520  under  the  direct  patronage  of 
Leo  X.,  who  has  certainly  left  the  mark  of  his  taste  and 
influence  upon  the  palace  of  the  Popes.  And  whilst  we 
have  good  reason  to  deplore  the  Pontiffs  attitude  to- 
wards Raphael  in  hastening  unduly  the  artist's  labours 
and  in  heaping  fresh  tasks  upon  his  already  over- 
burdened shoulders,  we  ought  in  fairness  to  recognise 
our  enormous  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  bounty  and 
insight  of  the  Medici. 

From  the  decoration  of  the  actual  fabric  of  the 
Vatican,  we  now  pass  to  another  celebrated  work  of  the 
master,  the  set  of  tapestries  ordered  by  Leo  for  the 
embellishment  of  the  blank  wall-spaces  in  the  Sistine 

1  Now  known  as  the  Villa  Farnesina.  It  is  to-day  in  a  pitiable 
condition  of  neglect  and  dilapidation. 


LEO  X.  AND  RAPHAEL  235 

Chapel,  already  a  treasure-house  of  art  with  its  painted 
roof  from  the  brush  of  Michelangelo  and  its  many  frescoes 
dating  from  the  distant  reign  of  Sixtus  IV.  It  was 
Leo's  fixed  intention  to  obtain  two  sets  of  tapestries, 
one  to  illustrate  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  thereby  to 
symbolise  the  historical  institution  of  the  Papacy  ;  whilst 
the  other  was  to  represent  the  Life  and  Death  of  Christ. 
Upon  the  necessary  cartoons  for  the  former  set,  the 
artist  hastened  to  employ  his  characteristic  skill  and 
energy,  with  the  happy  result  that  all  the  Christian  world 
is  still  marvelling  at  the  combination  of  simplicity  and 
grandeur  displayed  in  his  conception  of  the  leading 
events  in  the  lives  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.  The 
subjects  chosen  by  Raphael  are  too  well  known  to  need 
any  hint  of  description  here,1  for  they  have  been  made 
familiar  to  us  all  from  our  childhood,  and  it  is  truly  no 
slight  proof  of  Raphael's  matchless  genius  that  his 
pictures  of  the  Bible  appeal  with  equal  force  and  charm 
both  to  the  infant  and  to  the  scholar.  Few  persons 
however,  even  of  those  who  visit  Rome,  where  these 
splendid  relics  of  the  master-mind  of  Raphael  and  of  the 
liberality  of  Leo  are  preserved  in  the  Galleria  degli 
Arazzi  in  the  Vatican,  have  made  observation  of  the 
smaller  subjects  below  the  large  Biblical  groups  of 
figures.  Yet  these  little-noticed  designs  serve  to  connect 
this  famous  set  of  tapestries  with  the  great  Pontiff  who 
was  primarily  responsible  for  their  production.  For 
besides  the  customary  display  of  Medicean  shields  and 
devices  in  the  rich  and  variegated  borders  of  each  piece 
of  tapestry,  we  are  presented  with  a  number  of  quaint 
but  vigorous  scenes  from  the  early  career  of  Giovanni 
de'  Medici  before  he  was  elected  Pope.  Amongst  the 

1  Or  to  remind  the  reader  of  the  existence  of  seven  of  the  original 
cartoons  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum. 


236  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

many  incidents  of  his  busy  life,  already  described  in 
these  pages,  we  can  recognise  the  Cardinal's  flight  in 
disguise  across  the  wild  Apennine  passes ;  the  looting  of 
his  palace  in  Florence ;  his  dramatic  capture  by  the 
victorious  French  at  Ravenna  (perhaps  the  best  of  this 
series) ;  the  triumphal  entry  of  the  Cardinal  into  Florence 
after  the  sack  of  Prato,  and  his  reception  at  the  conclave 
of  March,  1513,  whence  he  emerged  as  Leo  X.  No 
doubt  the  second  set  of  tapestries,  illustrating  the  Life 
of  Our  Lord,  was  meant  to  contain  subsidiary  scenes  of 
a  like  nature  depicting  Leo's  pontificate. 

The  cartoons,  when  completed,  were  dispatched  to 
Brussels  and  there  retained  after  the  copies  in  tapestry 
had  been  duly  sent  to  Rome.  On  the  arrival  of  these 
precious  hangings  (for  their  cost  amounted  to  150,000 
ducats,  all  told),  by  order  of  Leo  X.  they  were  publicly 
exhibited  in  the  Sistine  Chapel  on  St.  Stephen's  Day, 
1519,  and  loud  were  the  praises  from  all  quarters 
showered  upon  the  popular  and  successful  artist.  "  All 
in  the  chapel,"  so  writes  Paris  de  Grassis,  "were  struck 
dumb  by  the  sight  of  these  hangings,  for  by  universal 
consent  there  is  nothing  more  beautiful  in  the  world." 

\j 

Nor  can  we  wonder  at  this  outburst  of  delight  and  con- 
gratulation, when  we  recall  Vasari's  description  of  the 
splendid  guise  in  which  Raphael's  majestic  designs  were 
thus  exhibited  to  the  admiring  crowds  of  high  and  low 
in  Rome  on  St.  Stephen's  Day.  "  The  work  was  so 
admirably  executed  that  it  awakened  astonishment  in 
all  who  beheld  it,  as  it  still  does  to-day  ;  for  the  spectator 
finds  it  difficult  to  conceive  how  it  has  been  found  pos- 
sible to  have  produced  such  hair  and  beards  by  weaving, 
or  to  have  given  so  much  softness  to  the  flesh  by  means 
of  thread ;  a  work  which  certainly  seems  to  have  been 
performed  by  miracle  rather  than  by  the  art  of  man, 


LEO  X.  AND  RAPHAEL  237 

seeing  that  we  have  here  animals,  buildings,  water,  and 
innumerable  objects  of  all  kinds,  so  well  executed  that 
they  do  not  look  like  a  mere  texture  woven  in  the  loom, 
but  like  paintings  executed  with  the  pencil."  It  is  true 
that  Vasari's  unstinted  praise  is  directed  to  the  execution 
rather  than  to  the  design  of  these  tapestries  ;  yet  we  can 
well  imagine  the  breathless  admiration  of  the  connoisseurs 
of  Leo's  court  before  this  blaze  of  colour  and  their  warm 
adulation  of  the  modest  artist,  whose  end  followed  so 
quickly  upon  the  heels  of  this  moment  of  proud  satis- 
faction. 

Nevertheless,  all  this  mass  of  artistic  employment, 
finished  or  unfinished,  amounted  to  but  a  fraction  of  the 
manifold  duties  which  the  hard-pressed  Raphael  was 
expected  to  perform.  Ever  since  the  death  of  Bramante 
in  the  spring  of  1514,  the  youthful  painter  had  been 
entrusted  by  Leo  with  the  superintendence  of  the  rising 
edifice  of  the  new  St.  Peter's ; — in  the  actual  words  of 
the  papal  brief  of  appointment  to  this  honourable  but 
arduous  task,  the  flattering  reason  is  advanced,  "  because 
thou  not  only  excellest  in  the  art  of  painting,  as  all  men 
agree,  but  hast  also  been  nominated  by  Bramante  on 
his  death-bed  as  being  skilful  in  the  science  of  architec- 
ture, and  fit  to  continue  the  erection  of  that  temple  to 
the  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  which  he  began".  And 
again,  shortly  before  the  over-taxed  artist's  death,  Leo 
X.  (who  to  his  eternal  credit  appears  as  the  sole  Pontiff 
of  the  Renaissance  who  made  some  slight  effort  to  save 
the  existing  relics  of  classical  Rome  from  the  impious 
hands  of  the  architects  and  builders)  charged  the  all-too- 
willing  Raphael  with  the  drawing-up  of  a  full  list  of  the 
many  surviving  ruins  of  Rome  and  with  the  compila- 
tion of  a  plan  of  the  ancient  city.  And  with  commend- 
able courage  the  great  painter,  architect,  scholar  and 


238  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

antiquary  in  the  opening  lines  of  his  report  pleads  to  the 
sympathetic  Leo  for  increased  care  in  the  preservation 
of  the  precious  objects  still  remaining ;  nor  does  he 
scruple  to  remind  the  Medici  of  the  evil  example  set  by 
his  own  predecessors  in  so  important  a  matter.  "The 
very  persons,"  so  he  declares,  "who  should  have  been 
the  special  champions  of  the  desolate  remains  of  ancient 
Rome,  have  shown  themselves  the  most  forward  in 
robbing  and  injuring  her.  How  many  Pontiffs,  O  Holy 
Father,  endowed  with  your  present  dignity,  but  pos- 
sessing neither  your  knowledge,  your  merit,  nor  your 
breadth  of  sympathy,  have  allowed  the  destruction  of 
antique  temples,  of  statues,  of  triumphal  arches,  and 
other  glorious  monuments  of  the  founders  of  our  country  ! 
How  many  among  them  have  permitted  the  foundations 
of  ancient  buildings  to  be  laid  bare  for  the  sake  of  the 
cement,  and  have  thus  reduced  them  to  ruin !  How 
many  antique  figures  and  other  carvings  have  been 
turned  into  lime !  I  am  saying  only  what  is  true, 
when  I  declare  that  this  modern  Rome,  with  all  its 
grandeur  and  beauty,  with  its  churches,  palaces,  and 
other  monuments,  is  built  with  the  lime  made  from  our 
ancient  marbles."  It  is  almost  too  tantalising  to  specu- 
late on  what  might  have  been  accomplished  in  these 
comparatively  early  days  of  Roman  vandalism,  had  but 
the  enthusiastic  Raphael  and  the  enlightened  Leo  been 
spared  to  contrive  between  them  an  adequate  scheme 
for  the  better  preservation  of  the  priceless  antiquities  of 
the  city. 

It  was  whilst  thus  engrossed,  amongst  a  multitude 
of  other  duties  and  commissions,  on  the  preparation  of 
his  report  on  the  Roman  ruins  that  the  divine  artist  was 
suddenly  struck  down  with  his  mortal  illness  in  the  spring 
of  1520.  Hastily  summoned  from  his  work  at  Chigi's 


LEO  X.  AND  RAPHAEL  239 

villa  by  a  message  from  Leo,  who  wished  to  confer  with 
Raphael  concerning  one  of  his  innumerable  schemes, 
the  master  hurried  on  foot  along  the  Lungara  to  arrive 
heated  and  weary  at  the  Vatican,  where  he  caught  a 
severe  chill  whilst  conversing  with  the  Pontiff  beneath  a 
draughty  arcade.  A  constitution  naturally  delicate, 
added  to  the  ceaseless  strain  upon  mental  and  physical 
powers  during  the  last  seven  years,  assisted  the  progress 
of  the  malady,  which  was  further  increased  by  the  ab- 
surd treatment  of  the  ignorant  physicians,  who  merci- 
lessly bled  and  physicked  their  exhausted  patient.  The 
picturesque  but  melancholy  story  of  Raphael's  last  days 
— of  his  death-bed  scene  in  the  chamber  containing  his 
great  unfinished  masterpiece  of  the  Transfiguration, 
that  he  was  executing  for  the  Cardinal  Giulio  de'  Medici ; 
of  the  wild  grief  of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  court  and  people ; 
of  his  stately  interment  in  the  Pantheon  of  Rome ;  of 
his  lofty  epitaph  from  the  pen  of  Bembo — lies  outside 
the  scope  of  a  work  dealing  with  his  papal  patron.  On 
6th  April,  "on  Good-Friday  night,  or  rather  at  three 
o'clock  on  Saturday  morning,  expired  the  noble  and 
excellent  painter,  Raffaelo  da  Urbino.  His  death 
caused  universal  sorrow,  particularly  amongst  learned 
men,  for  whom  more  especially,  although  also  for 
painters  and  architects,  he  had  drawn  in  a  book  (as 
Ptolemy  drew  the  configuration  of  the  world)  the  ancient 
buildings  of  Rome,  with  their  proportions,  forms  and 
decoration,  and  so  faithfully,  that  he  who  has  beheld  these 
drawings  might  almost  assert  that  he  had  seen  antique 
Rome  itself.  .  .  .  But  Death  interrupted  this  useful  and 
glorious  enterprise,  for  he  carried  off  the  young  man  at 
the  age  of  thirty-four  (sic].1  The  Pope  himself  felt 
intense  grief,  and  he  had  sent  at  least  six  times  during 

1  In  reality  thirty-seven. 


24o  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

the  fifteen  days  that  his  illness  lasted,  to  enquire  for  fresh 
news.  You  may  judge  then  of  what  others  did.  And 
as  on  precisely  the  same  day  the  Pope's  palace  was 
menaced  with  destruction,  so  much  so,  that  His  Holiness 
was  forced  to  seek  refuge  in  the  apartments  of  Monsig- 
nore  Cybo,  there  are  many  people  who  say  that  it  was 
not  the  weight  of  the  topmost  Loggia  which  caused 
this  accident,  but  that  it  was  a  portent  to  announce  the 
passing  of  him  who  had  toiled  so  long  at  the  adornment 
of  the  palace. 

"And  in  truth  an  incomparable  master  no  longer 
exists.  Lamentations  for  his  death  should  not  merely 
be  expressed  in  light  and  fugitive  words,  but  by  serious 
and  immortal  poetry.  And  poets,  if  I  am  not  mistaken, 
are  preparing  in  great  numbers  for  the  task. 

"  It  is  said  that  he  leaves  a  fortune  of  16,000  ducats, 
5,000  being  in  silver  specie,  the  greater  part  of  which 
is  to  be  divided  amongst  his  friends  and  servants.  To 
the  Cardinal  of  Santa  Maria  in  Portico1  he  has  be- 
queathed his  house,  which  formerly  belonged  to  Bramante 
and  which  he  bought  for  3,000  ducats. 

"He  has  been  interred  in  the  Pantheon,  whither  he 
was  borne  with  great  honour.  His  soul  has  doubtless 
gone  to  contemplate  the  edifices  in  Heaven,  which  are  not 
subject  to  destruction.  His  name  and  memory  will  live 
long  in  his  works  and  in  the  remembrance  of  all  honest 
men. 

"  Far  less  important,  in  my  opinion,  although  it  may 
appear  otherwise  to  the  multitude,  is  the  loss  the  world 
has  just  sustained  in  the  death  of  Signer  Agostino  Chigi, 
which  happened  last  night.  I  shall  not  speak  much  of 

1The  official  title  of  Bernardo  Dovizi  da  Bibbiena,  commonly 
called  the  Cardinal  Bibbiena  (vide  passim),  who  only  survived 
Raphael  seven  months,  d>ing  on  gth  November,  1520. 


LEO  X.  AND  RAPHAEL  241 

him  here,  as  it  is  not  known  yet  to  whom  he  has  devised 
his  property.  I  merely  gather  he  has  left  to  the  world 
80,000  ducats  in  ready  money,  letters  of  exchange,  loans, 
estates,  sums  placed  at  interest  in  banking  houses,  plate 
and  jewels. 

"  It  is  rumoured  that  Michelangelo  is  ailing  at 
Florence.  Tell  our  Catena  of  this,  that  he  may  be  upon 
his  guard,  since  great  painters  are  threatened.  God  be 
with  Youth ! 

"  ROME,  nth  April,  1520  "1 

And  following  on  the  Venetian  Michiel's  letter,  that 
perfect  courtier  Castiglione  writes  to  his  mother  :  "  I  am 
in  good  health,  but  it  seems  that  I  were  not  in  Rome, 
since  my  poor  Raffaelo  is  here  no  longer.  May  his 
blessed  soul  be  with  God !  "  Perhaps  of  all  who  mourned 
for  the  departed  artist,  none  was  more  sincere  or  stead- 
fast in  his  sorrow  than  Castiglione,  who  had  lately  as- 
sisted Raphael  in  his  exploration  of  the  Roman  ruins  and 
whose  portrait  from  his  departed  friend's  hand  constitutes 
to-day  one  of  the  chief  treasures  of  the  Louvre.  "  My 
love  for  my  Raphael,"  he  writes  at  a  later  period,  "is 
just  as  strong  and  enduring  in  death  as  ever  it  was  in 
life." 

Thus  expired  on  his  thirty -seventh  birthday,  Raffaelle 
Sanzio  da  Urbino,  the  chief  glory  and  ornament  of  the 
splendid  pontificate  of  Leo  X. 

As  has  been  already  remarked,  we  have  not  enumer- 
ated a  tithe  of  the  multitude  of  commissions  begun,  if 
not  completed,  by  Raphael  during  the  reign  of  his  prin- 
cipal patron,  Leo  X.  Cardinals,  foreign  potentates, 
courtiers,  prelates,  merchants,  struggling  artists,  all  alike 

1  Extract  from  a  Letter  of  Marcantonio  Michiel  of  Venice,  staying 
in  Rome,  to  Antonio  di  Marsilio  in  Venice.  Quoted  by  Passavant, 
Muntz,  etc. 

16 


242  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

besieged  the  great  master  with  requests  for  Madonnas, 
family  portraits,  designs  for  palace  or  villa,  drawings 
of  ornate  chalices  and  ewers,  whilst  the  good-natured 
painter,  who  seemed  unable  to  say  no  to  any  suppliant, 
however  importunate  or  however  humble,  sapped  his 
strength  in  trying  to  satisfy  their  endless  demands.  But 
of  the  numerous  works  we  are  compelled  to  pass  over, 
we  must  make  at  least  one  exception  out  of  the  many 
portraits  executed  by  the  master.  This  is  of  course  the 
world-famous  likeness  of  Leo  X.,  familiar  to  all  from 
photographs  and  engravings,  if  not  from  the  actual 
painting  which  hangs  in  the  Pitti  Palace  of  Leo's  own 
city  of  Florence.  This  work  has  been  described  again 
and  again,  yet  it  would  be  impossible  to  omit  a  brief 
notice  of  it  in  these  pages.  For  here  Raphael  exhibits 
to  us  the  utmost  height  of  his  genius  as  a  portrait-painter, 
since  not  only  does  he  present  us  with  an  excellent  like- 
ness of  the  first  Medicean  Pontiff,  but  he  verily  seems 
to  usher  us  into  the  presence  of  Leo  himself,  so  natural 
is  the  pose  and  so  lifelike  the  countenance.  Seated  at 
a  table,  covered  with  a  cloth,  whereon  lies  an  elaborately 
chiselled  bell,  the  great  Pontiff  appears  to  gaze  straight 
into  the  eyes  of  the  advancing  spectator,  whilst  his  ex- 
pressive and  enquiring  face  seems  but  to  lack  that  quality 
which  alone  marred  the  reputed  perfection  of  Donatello's 
statue  of  St.  George, — human  speech.  Without  stooping 
to  flatter  his  magnificent  patron,  the  artist  has  with  his 
inimitable  skill  contrived  to  invest  the  sensual  unattractive 
countenance  and  the  ungainly  form  with  an  air  of  real 
majesty.  The  finely  moulded  white  hands  are  pro- 
minently displayed,  as  with  the  right  the  Pope  carelessly 
fingers  a  leaf  of  the  illuminated  manuscript  before  him, 
and  with  the  other  grasps  the  inevitable  spy -glass.  The 
crimson  cap  and  mozzetta  trimmed  with  fur  and  the  rich 


LEO  X.  AND  RAPHAEL  243 

white  brocade  of  the  rochet  provide  warmth  of  colouring 
in  this  splendid  composition,  which  for  historical  interest 
combined  with  artistic  treatment  must  stand  unrivalled 
amongst  the  masterpieces  of  the  world.  Depicted  with 
equal  force  of  character  but  with  less  minute  detail  ap- 
pear the  figures  of  the  two  cardinals,  Leo's  relatives, 
who  stand  beside  the  papal  chair.  These  are  Giulio 
de'  Medici,  afterwards  Clement  VII.,  whose  sharp 
features  and  handsome  but  saturnine  face,  afford  a 
marked  contrast  with  the  full  fleshy  countenance  of  his 
cousin,  the  Supreme  Pontiff.  With  hands  clasping  the 
ornate  woodwork  of  the  Pope's  chair,  stands  Cardinal 
Luigi  de'  Rossi,  presenting  a  common-place  type  of 
ecclesiastic  but  serving  admirably  as  a  foil  to  the  pro- 
minent central  figure  of  the  group.1  As  Rossi  was  one 
of  that  batch  of  thirty-one  cardinals  created  by  Leo  in 
1517,  and  died  in  the  year  but  one  following,  we  can 
fix  with  tolerable  accuracy  both  the  date  of  the  work  and 
the  age  of  the  Pope,  who  must  have  been  about  forty-two 
or  forty-three  at  the  time  of  this  portrait,  though  the 
heavy  flabby  countenance  betokens  a  more  advanced 
age.  Nothing  can  give  the  student  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance  a  closer  insight  into  the  inmost  aims  and 
real  character  of  the  Medicean  Pope  than  this  master- 
piece of  Raphael,  which  clearly  displays  the  outward 
geniality  of  Leo,  yet  hints  also  at  the  underlying  ambition 
and  lurking  cruelty  of  his  varied  nature,  so  that  this 
portrait  seems  truly  a  clue  to  all  the  events  and  actions, 
private  and  public,  which  adorned  or  disgraced  the  reign 
of  the  Papal  Maecenas. 

1  In  a  fine  copy  of  this  celebrated  work  by  Giuliano  Bugiardini 
of  Florence,  which  hangs  in  the  Corsini  Gallery  at  Rome,  the  figure 
of  Luigi  Rossi  has  been  replaced  by  that  of  the  Pope's  nephew, 
Cardinal  Innocenzo  Cybo,  who  ordered  Bugiardini  to  make  this  change 
in  the  copy  ordered  (see  Vasari,  Life  of  G.  Bugiardini}. 


CHAPTER  X 

CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  CARDINALS 

II  n'eut  jamais  plus  plaisant  pape.  Sur  ce  nom  grave  et  leonin 
Jean  de  Me"dicis  etait  un  rieur,  un  farceur,  et  il  est  mort  d'avoir  trop 
ri  d'une  defaite  des  Francais.  ...  II  croyait  avoir  peu  a  vivre,  et 
vivait  double,  menant  la  vie  comme  une  farce,  aimant  les  savants, 
les  artistes  comme  acteurs  de  sa  come'die.  .  .  .  Ce  n'est  pas  que 
cette  cour  si  gaie  n'ait  eu  aussi  ses  tragedies.  Les  cardinaux,  qui 
avaient  cru  nommer  un  rieur  pacifique,  furent  un  peu  etonnes  lorsque, 
tout  en  riant,  il  entrangla  un,  le  Cardinale  Petrucci.  Profitant  de  cet 
etonnement  et  de  cette  terreur,  il  fit  (ce  que  n'avait  ose  Alexandre 
VI.)  trente-et-un  cardinaux  en  un  jour,  faisant  d'une  pierre  deux 
coups,  assurant  a  sa  famille  la  prochaine  election,  et  remplissant  ses 
coffres  par  cette  vente  de  trente  chapeaux  (J.  Michelet,  La  Reforme). 

BUT  Leo's  gay  and  brilliant  court,  wherein  the 
headlong  pursuit  of  learning  and  of  pleasure  ran 
its  course  unchecked,  was  not  fated  to  continue 
without  its  due  share  of  gloomy  and  repulsive  tragedies, 
nor  can  the  Pope  himself  be  deemed  blameless  for  their 
occurrence.  It  was  not  long  after  his  accession  that  a 
sense  of  disappointment  began  to  affect  the  minds  of 
the  score  or  so  of  Italian  cardinals  who  had  elected 
Giovanni  de'  Medici,  and  though  Leo  both  from  natural 
inclination  as  well  as  from  set  policy  showed  himself  in- 
variably courteous  and  conciliatory  towards  the  members 
of  the  Sacred  College,  yet  by  degrees  this  simmering 
discontent  tended  ultimately  to  develop  into  a  real 

revolt  against  his  person  and   authority.     The   causes 

244 


CONSPIRACY^  OF  THE  CARDINALS  245 

contributing  to  this  new-sprung  spirit  of  disaffection  at 
the  Roman  court  were  many  and  various,  but  the  papal 
favour  openly  shown  in  Rome  to  the  Florentine  adher- 
ents of  the  Medici  and  the  determined  prosecution  of 
the  war  of  Urbino  were  of  themselves  capable  of  arous- 
ing the  hostile  jealousy  of  many  members  of  the  College. 
Amongst  others,  Raffaele  Riario,  the  wealthiest  Church- 
man in  Rome  and  the  senior  cardinal,  had  been  greatly 
exasperated  by  Leo's  forcible  expulsion  from  his  realm 
of  Francesco  Delia  Rovere,  the  late  Pope's  nephew  and 
Riario 's  own  kinsman,  and  this  personal  displeasure  was 
felt,  though  in  a  less  degree,  by  the  other  cardinals  who 
for  divers  reasons  were  attached  to  the  interests  of  the 
Delia  Rovere  family.  Francesco  Soderini  shared  this 
dislike,  though  for  a  totally  different  cause,  for  he  had 
been  greatly  incensed  by  Leo's  open  determination  to 
wed  his  nephew  Lorenzo,  now  styled  the  Duke  of 
Urbino,  with  a  French  princess  of  royal  birth  instead  of 
with  a  daughter  of  the  burgher  House  of  Soderini,  ac- 
cording to  the  scheme  originally  arranged  by  Bernardo 
da  Bibbiena  at  the  late  conclave  ;  and  this  impending 
breach  of  faith  on  Leo's  part  revived  more  fiercely  than 
ever  the  slumbering  enmity  of  the  Florentine  Cardinal. 
The  whole  College  moreover  had  been  deeply  angered 
by  the  Pope's  recent  bestowal  of  scarlet  hats,  contrary 
to  the  pledge  exacted  from  him  prior  to  his  election, 
although  the  number  of  cardinals  so  created  before  the 
spring  of  1517  had  not  exceeded  eight  in  number.1  For 
in  the  first  year  of  his  pontificate  Leo  had  conferred  the 
supreme  honour  upon  his  secretary  Bernardo  Dovizi 
and  upon  Lorenzo  Pucci,  both  of  them  Tuscans,  and 

1  Amongst  them  stands  prominent  the  name  of  Thomas  Wolsey, 
who  had  succeeded  the  late  Cardinal  Christopher  Bainbridge  in  the 
see  of  York. 


246  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

also  upon  Lorenzo  Cybb,  a  youth  of  twenty,  his  own 
nephew  and  the  grandson  of  Pope  Innocent  VIII.,  who 
had  been  the  original  promoter  of  the  Medici's  career 
in  the  Church; — "that  which  Innocent  gave  to  me,  to 
Innocent  I  restore,"  was  the  smiling  Leo's  sole  retort  to 
the  many  sharp  criticisms  passed  upon  him  for  this  action. 
This  moderate  use  of  his  legitimate  prerogative  proved 
however  highly  distasteful  to  the  older  members  of  the 
Sacred  College,  but  that  which  especially  served  to  rouse 
their  jealousy  and  ire  was  the  Pope's  questionable  con- 
duct in  regard  to  his  cousin  Giulio  de'  Medici,  the  most 
devoted  but  by  no  means  the  ablest  counsellor  Leo  had 
at  his  command.  Giulio,  who  had  long  wavered  be- 
tween the  choice  of  a  secular  or  an  ecclesiastical  career, 
had  ridden  at  his  kinsman's  coronation  procession  in  the 
capacity  of  a  knight  of  Rhodes,  but  a  few  days  later  he 
made  a  final  decision,  accepting  the  archbishopric  of 
Florence  from  Leo,  who  met  the  inevitable  objection  to 
Giulio's  base  birth  by  granting  the  new-made  prelate  a 
special  dispensation  enabling  him  to  fill  so  exalted  an 
office.  This  unusual  form  of  favouritism  gave  no  little 
offence,  which  was  immeasurably  increased,  when 
shortly  afterwards  the  Pope  appointed  a  commission  to 
inquire  into  all  the  circumstances  of  his  cousin's  alleged 
parentage  with  the  obvious  intention  of  declaring  him 
the  legitimate  son  and  heir  of  that  Giuliano  de'  Medici, 
who  had  been  murdered  by  the  Pazzi  conspirators  in  the 
Duomo  of  Florence  in  1478.  This  inquiry  was  so 
patent  a  sham  and  a  subterfuge,  that  boundless  indigna- 
tion but  little  or  no  surprise  was  manifested,  when  this 
packed  body  of  commissioners  reported  the  new  arch- 
bishop of  Florence  to  be  verily  the  actual  child  and  heir 
of  the  murdered  Giuliano  by  his  true  wife,  a  certain 
Florentine  lady  by  name  Simonetta  Gorini,  with  whom 


CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  CARDINALS  247 

he  had  contracted  a  secret  marriage.1  On  2Oth  Septem- 
ber, 1513,  accordingly,  a  papal  proclamation,  professing 
to  be  based  on  the  finding  of  this  commission,  affirmed 
Giulio  de'  Medici  to  be  legitimate,  whereupon  the 
scarlet  hat  was  formally  presented  to  the  late  Medicean 
bastard,  the  future  Pope  Clement  VII.  Without  doubt 
it  was  a  natural  impulse  in  Leo  to  raise  to  the  purple, 
even  by  an  artifice,  one  who  was  both  closely  related  to 
him  and  deeply  attached  to  his  private  interests,  yet  a 
proceeding  so  irregular  and  so  unpleasantly  reminiscent 
of  bygone  Borgian  methods,  caused  the  most  unpleasant 
impression  throughout  all  Italy.  Upon  the  newly  created 
Porporato,  bastard  and  upstart  as  he  was  generally 
regarded,  fell  the  jealous  dislike  of  his  unwilling  col- 
leagues, whose  hatred  waxed  hotter  when  they  began 
to  perceive  the  immense  and  increasing  influence  wielded 
by  the  Cardinal  Giulio.  For  it  soon  became  evident 
that  the  more  subtle  and  selfish  counsel  of  this  interloper 
was  gradually  supplanting  the  influence  of  the  easy-going 
and  less  ambitious  Bibbiena,  the  waning  of  whose  in- 
timacy with  Leo  can  be  traced  in  the  growing  power  of 
the  Cardinal  de'  Medici,  albeit  the  latter  was  in  taste, 
character  and  appearance  the  complete  antithesis  of  his 
master.  "He  was  rather  morose  and  disagreeable," 
writes  Guicciardini,  "than  of  a  pleasant  and  affable 
temper ;  reputed  avaricious ;  by  no  means  trustworthy 
and  naturally  disinclined  to  do  a  kindness ;  very  grave 
and  cautious  in  all  his  actions ;  perfectly  self-controlled 
and  of  great  capacity,  if  timidity  did  not  sometimes  warp 
his  better  judgment."' 

In  spite  however  of  the  general  dissatisfaction  felt  at 

1  Perhaps  "  la  Bella  Simonetta,"  whose  portrait,  ascribed  to  Botti- 
celli, hangs  in  the  Pitti  Palace  in  Florence  (Creighton,  vol.  v.). 

2  Storia  d'  Italia,  lib.  xi. 


248  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

the  sudden  rise  to  power  of  this  unpopular  Medicean 
bastard  and  at  the  long  disastrous  war  of  Urbino,  it  is 
doubtful  whether  this  state  of  discontent  would  ever  have 
broken  out  in  open  insurrection,  but  for  the  unbridled 
passions  of  the  boy-cardinal  of  Siena,  the  dissolute 
Alfonso  Petrucci,  who  had  previously  shown  himself  so 
warm  an  advocate  of  Leo's  claims  during  the  late  con- 
clave. At  the  time  of  his  visit  to  Florence  in  the  past 
winter,  Leo  had  presumed  to  meddle  in  Sienese  politics 
by  abetting  the  removal  of  Alfonso's  brother  Borghese 
from  the  governorship  of  that  city,  and  by  helping  to  sub- 
stitute for  that  young  tyrant  the  more  respectable 
Raffaele  Petrucci,  a  member  of  the  same  family,  who 
was  Castellan  of  Sant'  Angelo.  Alfonso,  not  without 
reason,  now  began  to  complain  bitterly  of  the  Pope's 
ingratitude  in  return  for  his  past  services,  and  his  in- 
dignant threats  of  vengeance  found  a  ready  echo  in  the 
minds  of  several  of  his  colleagues.  The  old  Raffaele 
Riario,  willing  to  wound  in  secret  and  yet  afraid  to  strike 
openly,  appears  to  have  encouraged  the  silly  youth, 
whose  fury  was  likewise  inflamed  purposely  by  Soderini, 
Sauli  and  other  malcontents  in  the  Sacred  College,  in- 
cluding the  Cardinal  Adrian  of  Corneto,  who  is  said  to 
have  desired  his  master's  speedy  death  for  no  other 
reason  than  that  a  soothsayer  had  once  declared  to  him 
that  the  next  Pontiff  was  destined  to  be  one  Adrian,  a 
person  of  mean  birth  but  of  great  culture.1  Assuming 
this  description  of  Leo's  successor  to  apply  to  none  other 
than  himself,  the  Cardinal  Adrian  with  incredible  folly 
did  not  shrink  from  approving  of  Petrucci's  violent 
suggestions,  which  included  a  plan  for  stabbing  the 
Pontiff  on  some  convenient  occasion  whilst  out  hunting. 

1 A  curious  prophecy  which  was  actually  verified  in  the  election 
of  Adrian  VI.  in  the  Conclave  of  1522.     Jovius,  lib.  iii. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  CARDINALS  249 

Willing  instruments  of  assassination  at  that  time  were 
never  lacking  for  the  accomplishment  of  any  plot,  no 
matter  how  diabolical  or  dangerous  of  execution,  so  that 
a  certain  medical  charlatan  from  Vercelli,  one  Gian- 
Battista  by  name,  on  overhearing  Petrucci's  unguarded 
threats  and  complaints,  at  once  made  known  his  readiness 
to  compass  the  Pope's  death  on  consideration  of  a  suit- 
able recompense.  The  plan  proposed  by  Gian-Battista 
and  adopted  apparently  by  Petrucci  and  his  friends,  was 
that  the  doctor  should  be  introduced  at  the  Vatican  as  a 
skilful  physician,  who  was  well  qualified  to  alleviate  the 
Pope's  painful  ailment,  and  that,  having  once  gained 
Leo's  confidence,  he  should  then  secretly  murder  his 
unsuspecting  patient  by  means  of  poisoned  band- 
ages. A  secretary  of  the  Cardinal  Petrucci  and  also 
a  Sienese  captain,  bearing  the  suggestive  nick-name 
of  Poco-in-testa,  offered  to  participate  in  this  horrible 
scheme,  which  might  easily  have  been  crowned  with 
success,  but  for  Leo's  unexpected  reluctance  to  admit 
another  surgeon  into  the  palace.  Efforts  were  still  being 
made  to  induce  the  Pope  to  accept  the  new  physician's 
services,  when  the  existence  of  the  plot  was  suddenly 
revealed  through  the  carelessness  of  a  page,  although 
Petrucci's  own  behaviour  in  withdrawing  from  Rome  and 
opening  negotiations  with  the  Pope's  enemy,  the  dis- 
possessed Duke  of  Urbino,  formed  of  itself  a  sufficient 
cause  to  excite  the  alarm  of  Leo,  who,  it  must  in  fairness 
be  admitted,  had  already  warned  the  young  cardinal  of 
the  peril  of  his  treasonable  conduct.  Furious  at  his 
discovery  of  Petrucci's  abominable  plot,  yet  with  true 
Medicean  craft  keeping  his  information  a  profound 
secret,  Leo  now  invited  Petrucci  with  affectionate  words 
to  return  to  Rome  and  even  allowed  the  Spanish  am- 
bassador to  send  the  young  cardinal  a  safe-conduct 


THE  MEDICI  POPES 

couched  in  the  most  explicit  terms.  And  the  Cardinal 
of  Siena,  who  seems  to  have  been  as  gullible  by  nature 
as  he  was  violent,  was  apparently  satisfied  with  the  papal 
promises,  for  he  now  proceeded  towards  Rome,  although 
the  court  was  marvelling  at  his  extreme  rashness  in 
venturing  thither  under  such  circumstances.  On  reach- 
ing the  gates,  Petrucci  was  joined  by  Sauli,  and  the 
two  princes  of  the  Church  with  a  large  train  of  servants 
made  their  way  without  a  thought  of  treachery  to  the 
Vatican,  where  on  their  arrival  a  most  dramatic  and 
disgraceful  scene  took  place.  For  scarcely  had  the  two 
cardinals  entered  the  courtyard  of  the  palace  than  by 
order  of  the  Pope  they  were  arrested  and  seized  in  spite 
of  their  indignant  protests,  Sauli  tearing  his  rochet  to 
shreds  in  his  impotent  rage,  whilst  Petrucci  set  to  cursing 
Leo  at  the  top  of  his  voice.  From  the  Vatican  the  two 
unfortunate  men  were  forcibly  removed  to  the  castle  of 
Sant'  Angelo,  to  be  thrust  "  into  the  most  horrible 
of  its  underground  dungeons,  full  of  a  cruel  stench".1 
Nor  would  the  hard-hearted  Medici  allow  even  a  single 
servant  to  attend  to  their  wants,  until  the  Sacred  College 
in  a  body  came  humbly  to  entreat  this  favour  on  behalf 
of  its  imprisoned  members.  In  vain  did  the  Spanish 
envoy  plead  and  reproach,  quoting  to  the  Pope  the  terms 
of  the  safe-conduct  lately  issued ;  Leo  remained  fixed 
in  his  resolve  to  make  an  example  of  these  two  con- 
spirators against  his  authority.  Meanwhile  the  Pontiff", 
who  without  any  reasonable  shadow  of  doubt  had  really 
been  terrified  by  his  late  discovery,  ordered  the  gates  of 
the  Vatican  to  be  kept  closed  and  securely  guarded 
against  an  attempt  upon  his  person  which  he  averred 
was  imminent.  Having  called  public  attention  to  his 
alarm  by  such  measures  of  precaution,  Leo's  next  step 

1  Jovius,  lib.  iii. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  CARDINALS  251 

was  to  order  the  seizure  of  the  venerable  Cardinal  Riario, 
an  incident  which  caused  a  profound  impression  in  the 
city,  where  people  were  heard  openly  to  exclaim  that 
the  House  of  Medici  was  at  last  about  to  wreak  its  long- 
delayed  vengeance  upon  the  old  envoy  of  Sixtus  IV., 
who  nearly  forty  years  before  had  been  present  at  the 
conspiracy  of  the  Pazzi  in  the  Florentine  Cathedral.  So 
overcome  with  fear  did  this  aged  and  luxurious  prince  of 
the  Church  show  himself  at  the  moment  of  his  arrest, 
that  being  unable  to  move  from  sheer  terror  he  had  to  be 
borne  in  a  litter  from  the  papal  ante-chamber  to  a  distant 
room  in  the  Vatican,  where  although  kept  a  close 
prisoner  he  was  treated  with  more  consideration  than  his 
luckless  colleagues  in  the  neighbouring  fortress  of  Sant' 
Angelo. 

The  consistory  was  now  convoked  in  the  utmost 
haste,  and  here  Leo,  trembling  with  an  angry  excitement, 
which  some  considered  to  be  assumed  rather  than  real, 
fiercely  demanded  of  the  cardinals  present  the  names  of 
all  who  were  implicated  in  the  recently  unmasked  plot. 
After  a  lengthy  and  most  undignified  altercation,  which 
could  be  clearly  overheard  outside  the  apartment  and  be- 
came indeed  in  two  hours'  time  the  common  talk  of  all 
Rome,  the  dozen  members  present,  dreading  the  Pope's 
fury  and  quaking  at  the  evil  fate  of  Petrucci  and  Sauli,  at 
last  compelled  Francesco  Soderini  and  Adrian  of  Corneto 
to  come  forward  and  entreat  for  mercy  upon  their  knees, 
albeit  in  all  probability  their  crime  consisted  in  little  else 
than  the  uttering  of  coarse  jests  and  the  open  expression 
of  their  private  ill-will  against  Leo.  The  cardinals,  now 
thoroughly  cowed  and  crestfallen,  gladly  submitted  to 
the  immense  fines,  which  were  inflicted  upon  their  com- 
panions kneeling  in  an  agony  of  terror  at  the  feet  of  the 
enraged  Pontiff,  who  scarcely  deigned  to  notice  their 


252  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

presence  or  attitude.  So  high  were  the  penalties  fixed, 
that  Soderini  was  shortly  forced  to  retire  from  Rome, 
nor  did  he  return  thither  during  Leo's  lifetime,  whilst  the 
Cardinal  of  Corneto  at  the  first  opportunity  fled  by 
stealth  from  the  city,  and  having  been  hunted  hither 
and  thither  by  the  papal  minions  was  finally  lost  sight  of 
and  died  in  obscurity  :  truly  a  tragical  ending  to  the 
prosperous  career  of  that  able  but  lowly  born  ecclesi- 
astic, who  for  many  years  held  the  English  see  of  Bath 
and  Wells.1  With  regard  to  Riario,  the  Pope,  somewhat 
to  the  surprise  of  those  around  him,  showed  a  measure 
of  his  traditional  clemency  towards  the  old  antagonist  of 
his  family,  who  had  thus  fallen  helplessly  into  the  toils. 
Riario  was  certainly  mulcted  in  a  huge  ransom,  but  after 
an  humiliating  expression  of  repentance  in  public  was 
eventually  re-instated  in  his  former  dignities,  although 
he  prudently  decided  to  spend  the  few  remaining  years 
of  his  long  life  at  Naples. 

As  for  the  miserable  Sauli  and  Petrucci,  the  former 
of  whom  is  said  to  have  shrieked  at  the  very  sight  of 
the  rack,  both  cardinals  were  before  long  induced  to 
make  a  full  confession  of  their  aims,  and  indeed  it  was 
the  admissions  they  had  disclosed  under  stress  of  the 
most  exquisite  torture  that  had  formed  the  gist  of  the 
charges  subsequently  brought  against  Riario,  Adrian  and 
Soderini.  Sauli,  as  a  Genoese  citizen  and  therefore 
claimed  as  a  subject  by  the  French  King,  was  able  to 
secure  the  good  offices  of  Francis  I.,  as  well  as  of  the 
Pope's  own  brother-in-law  Francesco  Cyb6,  with  the  re- 
sult that  he  was  finally  pardoned  and  released  from  his 
pestilential  dungeon  in  Rome  to  be  kept  under  strict 

1  For  an  account  of  Adrian,  or  Adriano  da  Castello  as  he  is  some- 
times styled,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  article  on  this  Cardinal  in 
the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  vol.  i. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  CARDINALS  253 

surveillance  at  Mont  Rotondo,  where  he  expired  after 
much  suffering  during  the  ensuing  year,  not  without 
some  suspicion  of  foul  play.  But  Petrucci,  that  "Cupid 
of  the  Cardinals,"  the  Medici's  late  playmate  and  favourite 
companion,  seems  to  have  possessed  no  friend  powerful 
enough  to  intercede  successfully  on  his  behalf,  and  after 
some  hesitation  on  Leo's  part  he  was  accordingly  executed 
in  his  foul  and  gloomy  cell  by  one  Orlando,  a  Moham- 
medan hangman  of  the  Roman  court.  Common  report 
averred  that  Petrucci  was  strangled  on  the  night  of  6th 
July,  but  others  declared  that  he  was  beheaded  with  a 
kerchief  tied  over  his  eyes,  cursing  his  perfidious  master 
to  the  last  and  angrily  refusing  to  make  his  confession  or 
to  receive  the  sacraments,  telling  the  scandalised  priest 
in  attendance  that  "if  he  were  doomed  to  lose  his  life, 
he  cared  nothing  what  became  of  his  soul  ".*  The  corpse 
of  the  late  Cardinal  of  San  Teodoro,  only  twenty-two 
years  of  age,  was  secretly  interred  after  nightfall  outside 
the  walls  of  the  city,  and  though  the  cruel  fate  of  this 
comely  youth,  "who  was  surely  born  beneath  some  star 
of  malign  influence,"  may  excite  our  compassion,  it  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  his  cold-blooded  execution,  how- 
ever harsh  and  ungenerous  in  Leo,  succeeded  in  ridding 
the  Sacred  College  of  one  of  its  most  turbulent  and  dis- 
reputable members.  But  the  horrible  story  of  Petrucci's 
career  and  ending  serves  well  also  to  illustrate  for  us  the 
swift  variations  of  Fortune  in  the  days  of  the  Italian  Re- 
naissance, when  in  the  briefest  space  of  time  a  powerful 
nobleman  or  Churchman  could  be  suddenly  and  without 
warning  dashed  down  from  a  pinnacle  of  wealth  and 
power  into  an  abyss  of  infamy,  such  as  can  scarcely  be 
conceived  in  our  own  days.  But  if  the  punishment 
meted  out  to  a  cardinal  of  loose  morals  be  accounted 

1  Fabroni,  Appendix  L. 


254  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

bloodthirsty,  what  can  be  said  concerning  the  awful 
barbarities  perpetrated  upon  the  more  humble  accessories 
to  the  crime — Gian-Battista  of  Vercelli,  Poco-in-testa 
and  Petrucci's  secretary — who  after  endless  stretchings 
upon  the  rack  were  dragged  on  hurdles  through  the 
filthy  streets  of  Rome,  torn  to  pieces  with  red-hot  pincers 
and  finally  gibbeted  whilst  still  breathing  on  the  parapet 
of  the  bridge  of  Sant'  Angelo  ? 

Some  modern  writers  have  essayed  to  prove  that  no 
definite  conspiracy  ever  existed  on  this  occasion,  and 
that  the  actions  of  Petrucci  and  his  associates  were  con- 
fined solely  to  vague  threats  against  the  life  or  authority 
of  Leo.  Nevertheless,  all  contemporary  historians  seem 
to  have  believed  in  the  actual  existence  of  a  deep-laid 
plot  of  a  terrible  and  even  of  an  unparalleled  nature 
against  the  person  of  the  Pontiff,  whom  the  conspirators 
were  anxious  to  replace  by  a  master  more  congenial  to 
their  tastes  and  private  ambitions.  How  many  of  the 
cardinals  were  privy  to  Petrucci's  "accursed  madness" 
(scelerato  furore],  as  Guicciardini  styles  it,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  conjecture,  and  of  the  five  arrested  it  would  be 
no  easy  task  to  apportion  the  exact  amount  of  guilt  ap- 
pertaining to  each,  though  it  would  seem  as  if  Riario  and 
Adrian  sympathised  with  rather  than  abetted  the  scheme 
of  assassination.  That  Leo  was  truly  alarmed  and 
horrified  there  is  no  reason  to  deny,  and  even  if  his  con- 
duct throughout  be  adjudged  both  harsh  and  treacherous, 
it  is  not  unlikely  that  under  the  more  severe  Julius  II., 
Sauli,  Soderini,  and  perhaps  Adrian  would  have  shared 
the  evil  fate  of  the  wretched  ringleader,  Petrucci.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  is  evident  that  the  versatile  Medici, 
perhaps  at  the  advice  of  his  cousin  Giulio,  contrived  to 
turn  to  good  account  his  late  alarm  at  the  discovery  of 
the  plot,  which  afforded  him  an  excellent  excuse  for 


CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  CARDINALS  255 

levying  heavy  fines  wherewith  to  replenish  the  empty 
treasury  out  of  the  ill-gotten  wealth  of  his  greedy  car- 
dinals, with  whose  pecuniary  losses  nobody  was  likely  to 
sympathise  ;  and  doubtless  it  was  this  reflection  that  in- 
duced Leo  to  extend  an  unexpected  degree  of  mercy 
to  the  unhappy  Riario.  Nevertheless,  regarded  from 
any  and  every  point  of  view,  the  Conspiracy  of  the  Car- 
dinals forms  one  of  the  ugliest  incidents  in  the  whole 
course  of  the  Italian  Renaissance,  leaving  the  most  un- 
pleasant impression  of  the  appalling  corruption  of  the 
Roman  court  and  also  of  Leo's  signal  lack  of  that  spirit 
of  clemency  and  forgiveness  which  had  once  been 
reckoned  his  predominant  virtue. 

Having  crushed  the  revolt  in  the  Sacred  College  by 
these  prompt  and  drastic  measures,  Leo  proceeded  to 
make  a  merciless  use  of  his  late  victory  in  deciding  to 
create  forthwith  a  batch  of  thirty -one  cardinals :  an  un- 
precedented stroke  of  policy  against  which  the  surviving 
members  of  the  College  were  now  powerless  to  protest 
Not  only  was  such  a  step  an  event  of  the  highest  political 
importance  at  the  moment,  but  it  may  also  be  said  to 
have  destroyed  for  ever  that  supremacy  which  a  handful 
of  Italian  cardinals,  often  consisting  of  the  worst- 
principled  members  of  the  College,  had  usurped  since 
the  middle  of  the  preceding  century.  For  during  the 
last  four  or  five  conclaves  the  election  of  a  new  Pope 
had  rested  practically  in  the  hands  of  a  small  and  by 
no  means  representative  clique  of  Italian  ecclesiastics, 
who  had  at  least  on  one  occasion  openly  offered  the 
gravest  dignity  in  all  Christendom  to  the  highest  bidder  ; 
and  it  is  therefore  to  Leo  X.  that  the  definite  and  final 
overthrow  of  this  corrupt  and  unedifying  system  is  due, 
although  he  deserves  perhaps  little  credit  for  his  action, 
seeing  that  his  immediate  object  in  view  was  to  subdue 


256  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

the  Sacred  College  for  his  own  ends  rather  than  to 
purify  it.  Nor  were  mercenary  motives  for  Leo's  policy 
lacking,  since  it  was  no  secret  that  the  Pope  was  hard 
pressed  to  find  not  only  the  funds  necessary  to  the  up- 
keep of  his  luxurious  court  but  likewise  the  money 
needed  to  prosecute  the  dragging  campaign  in  Urbino. 
Very  welcome  in  these  financial  straits  were  the  fines 
lately  levied  from  Riario  and  Sauli,  yet  the  total  amount 
thus  raised  did  not  prove  adequate  for  the  requirements 
of  the  moment,  and  in  consequence  several  of  these 
new-made  Porporati  were  forced  to  contribute  heavily 
to  the  papal  treasury  as  the  price  of  their  recent  honours. 
Yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  Leo's  choice  of  new 
members  showed  in  many  instances  his  sharp  discern- 
ment of  merit  and  his  appreciation  of  learning  and  piety, 
since  the  lengthy  list  includes  such  names  as  those  of 
the  excellent  Egidius  of  Viterbo,  the  historian  and 
principal  of  the  Augustinians ;  of  Tommaso  de  Vio  of 
Gaeta,  head  of  the  Dominican  Order,  commonly  termed 
the  Cardinal  Cajetan  and  celebrated  as  the  theological 
opponent  of  Martin  Luther  ;  and  the  pious  Adrian  of 
Utrecht,  the  simple  and  austere  preceptor  of  the  Arch- 
duke Charles,  who  was  to  become  Leo's  own  successor. 
Old  kindness  from  the  Lady  Bianca  Rangone  of  Modena 
was  repaid  by  a  hat  bestowed  on  her  son  Ercole,  whilst 
princes  of  the  Royal  Houses  of  France  and  Portugal 
received  the  highest  dignity  of  the  Church  in  the  persons 
of  Louis  de  Bourbon  and  of  Alfonso,  the  infant  son  of 
King  Manuel  I.  The  ill-fated  name  of  Petrucci  was 
still  commemorated  in  the  College  by  the  elevation  of 
Raffaele  Petrucci,  the  espousal  of  whose  claims  by  Leo 
had  been  the  original  cause  of  the  late  conspiracy  with 
its  subsequent  failure  that  had  broken  for  ever  the 
usurped  power  of  the  Cardinals,  and  at  the  same  time 


CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  CARDINALS  257 

had  strengthened  enormously  the  position  of  Leo  and 
all  his  successors.  Three  Florentine  relations — Niccolo 
Ridolfi,  Giovanni  Salviati  and  Luigi  Rossi — were  like- 
wise invested  with  the  purple,  and  contrary  to  the  best 
advice  Leo  advanced  several  Roman  prelates,  amongst 
them  being  that  violent  would-be  patriot,  Pompeo 
Colonna,  whose  bitter  enmity  towards  the  second 
Medicean  Pontiff  was  destined  ere  long  to  prove  so 
disastrous.  Royal  birth,  learning,  piety,  wealth,  claims 
of  family,  claims  of  gratitude — all  are  represented  in  this 
list  of  cardinals,  the  largest  creation  in  the  annals  of 
the  Papacy.  But  although  many  types  of  men  were 
selected,  it  is  clear  that  the  prevailing  intention  of  the 
Pontiff  and  his  cousin  Giulio  was  to  obtain  a  subservient 
College,  upon  whose  attitude  full  reliance  could  be  placed 
for  furthering  the  cherished  but  secret  policy  of  extend- 
ing the  dominion  of  the  Medici  throughout  Italy.  Of 
this  historic  nomination  of  cardinals  in  the  autumn  of 
1517  an  interesting  memorial  is  still  to  be  found  in  the 
great  fresco  executed  by  Vasari  and  his  pupils  in  after 
years  at  the  command  of  Cosimo  I.,  the  first  Medicean 
Grand-Duke  of  Tuscany,  Leo's  distant  kinsman  in  the 
male  line,  but  his  great-nephew  on  the  distaff  side,  since 
Cosimo's  mother  had  been  a  daughter  of  that  Jacopo 
Salviati  who  had  espoused  Contessina  de'  Medici,  the 
Pope's  sister.  This  large  painting,  which  appears  above 
the  mantel-piece  of  the  ante-chamber  of  the  Quartiere 
di  Papa  Leone  X.  in  the  civic  palace  of  Florence,  affords 
us  portraits  of  almost  all  the  personages  who  took  part 
in  this  ceremony.  Beneath  an  elaborate  canopy  up- 
held by  twisted  columns  Leo  X.  is  shown  seated  upon 
his  throne  in  the  act  of  investing  the  crowd  of  new- 
made  cardinals,  who  pass  before  the  papal  chair  in 
rapid  succession.  The  older  members  of  the  College 


258  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

appear  sitting  on  benches  with  Giulio  de'  Medici  and 
Bibbiena  prominent  in  the  fore-ground,  whilst  at  the 
back  of  the  scene  the  painter  has  introduced  the  figures 
of  Michelangelo,  Castiglione  and  other  celebrated  lay- 
men, who  regard  the  solemn  rite  with  a  languid  interest. 
This  fine  fresco  exactly  faces  the  large  representation 
of  Leo's  state  entry  into  Florence,  to  which  we  have 
already  made  allusion,  and  forms  an  admirable  pendant 
to  it ;  indeed,  the  whole  of  this  spacious  but  rather 
gloomy  apartment  is  decorated  with  scenes,  real  or 
allegorical,  to  illustrate  the  leading  events  in  the  career 
of  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  Pope  Leo  X. 

With  this  decisive  victory  over  the  Sacred  College, 
Leo  may  be  said  to  have  attained  the  zenith  of  his 
fame  and  power,  so  that  the  road  seemed  clear  of  all 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  that  supreme  mastery  of  Italy 
which  constituted  his  hidden  but  undoubted  aim,  now 
that  both  Florence  and  Rome  were  safe  in  the  hands  of 
the  Medici.  The  Council  of  the  Lateran,  so  unwillingly 
convoked  by  the  late  Pope,  had  been  already  decently 
dismissed  in  the  spring  of  1517,  so  that  there  was  little 
fear  of  inconvenient  criticism  in  that  quarter ;  the  sub- 
dued College  of  Cardinals  was  believed  to  be  ready  to 
abet  his  future  policy  ;  his  nephew,  officially  styled  Duke 
of  Urbino  and  created  Captain-General  of  the  Church, 
was  shortly  to  be  allied  with  a  princess  of  the  royal  blood 
of  France.  In  the  early  spring  of  the  following  year, 
1518,  the  haughty  young  Lorenzo  set  out  with  a  train 
surpassing  in  luxury  and  splendour  that  of  any  reigning 
monarch,  and  made  his  way  towards  Paris  in  order  to 
represent  his  uncle  at  the  approaching  baptism  of  the 
Dauphin,  as  well  as  to  celebrate  his  own  nuptials  with 
Madeleine  de  la  Tour  d'Auvergne,  cousin  of  the  French 
King.  "  Now  that  the  Duke  of  Urbino  has  been  expelled 


CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  CARDINALS  259 

from  his  dominions,  a  similar  fate  awaits  His  Majesty  of 
Ferrara,"  writes  a  bitter  German  critic  of  Leo's  ambitious 
schemes,  perhaps  the  great  Ulrich  von  Hutten  himself. 
"  When  both  these  dukes  are  dispossessed  of  their  realms, 
then  we  shall  have  to  salute  that  Florentine  merchant, 
Lorenzo  Medici,  as  King  of  Tuscany !  .  .  .  And  since 
Fortune  is  variable  and  Leo  may  himself  expire  before 
his  desires  are  fulfilled,  and  his  successor  may  chase  the 
papal  nephew  from  his  ill-gotten  duchies,  therefore 
Lorenzo  must  needs  espouse  some  princess  of  France 
and  purchase  a  principality  in  that  land,  in  the  event  of 
his  own  expulsion  from  Italy  in  the  future.  Already  the 
bargain  has  been  struck,  the  documents  have  been  at- 
tested, and  the  pledges  on  either  side  have  been  ex- 
changed. '  Long,  aye,  too  long,  have  we  remained  mere 
apothecaries '  (me  diet},  cry  these  upstarts,  '  now  is  our  op- 
portunity to  make  ourselves  kings  and  princes ' !  "  Such 
was  the  expression  of  opinion  indulged  in  by  German 
malcontents  and  reformers  concerning  the  splendid  em- 
bassy dispatched  from  Rome  to  the  court  of  Francis,  with 
the  evident  object  of  making  the  coming  alliance  of  the 
heir  of  the  Medici  with  the  Princess  Madeleine  an  im- 
posing affair  in  the  eyes  of  the  rulers  of  Europe,  for  it 
was  intended  to  be  a  glorification,  conceived  in  an  os- 
tentatious and  somewhat  vulgar  spirit,  of  the  new-sprung 
sovereignty  of  the  Florentine  mercantile  family  which 
was  now  claiming  to  rank  amongst  royal  Houses. 

Even  the  prodigal  Francis  of  France  was  amazed 
and  visibly  impressed  by  the  young  Lorenzo's  show  of 
state  and  by  the  costly  nature  of  the  Pope's  gifts,  which 
included  thirty-six  horses  with  attendants  and  fine 
harness,  and  also  a  gorgeous  matrimonial  bed  for  the 

1  Exhortatio  viri  cujusdem,  etc.,  Roscoe,  Appendix  LXXIX.,  also 
vol.  ii.,p.  244,  note  12. 


260  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

betrothed  pair  constructed  of  tortoiseshell  inlaid  with 
mother-of-pearl  and  encrusted  with  numerous  precious 
stones.1  The  Seigneur  de  Fleurange  declared  the 
jousts  and  banquets  in  Lorenzo's  honour  at  the  royal 
castle  of  Amboise  to  have  been  the  most  sumptuous 
ever  held  in  France  or  even  in  all  Christendom  ;  but  he 
proceeds  to  pass  some  significant  comments  upon  the 
bridegroom's  state  of  health,  which  marked  him  out  as 
wholly  unfit  for  marriage,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
French  historian  extends  his  pity  to  the  innocent  young 
bride,  who  in  his  sight  was  "  trop  plus  belle  que  le  marie"  ". 
But  moral  considerations  weighed  little  or  nothing  in  the 
selfish  minds  either  of  the  King  or  Pope,  each  of  whom 
had  his  private  reasons  for  desiring  the  projected  union, 
and  thus  this  loveless  political  match  was  duly  concluded 
amidst  a  succession  of  the  usual  bridal  festivities.  After 
a  lengthy  sojourn  at  the  gay  court  of  Francis,  Lorenzo 
and  his  bride  at  last  set  their  faces  southward  for  Florence, 
where  the  duke,  already  in  an  advanced  stage  of  his 
malady,  took  up  his  residence  in  the  old  palace  in  Via 
Larga.  Haughty  and  self-centred,  Lorenzo  had  ever 
been  regarded  with  dislike  or  indifference  by  the  Floren- 
tines, with  the  exception  of  the  extreme  partisans  of  his 
House,  so  that  scant  sympathy  was  shown  for  the  dying 
prince  or  even  for  his  youthful  wife,  who  had  also  fallen 
into  a  pitiable  state  of  ill-health.  Restricting  himself  to 
the  society  of  his  secretary,  Goro  Gheri  of  Pistoja,  and 
his  boon  companion  and  pander,  Moro  de'  Nobili,  the 
unpopular  duke  spent  miserably  the  last  months  of  a 
brief  but  wasted  existence  in  the  palace  of  his  ancestors, 
which  had  once  been  tenanted  by  the  wise  Cosimo  and 
the  Magnificent  Lorenzo.  His  increasing  sickness  made 
the  duke  either  unable  or  unwilling  to  proceed  to  Rome, 

1  Fabroni,  Appendix  LXIX. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  CARDINALS  261 

where  the  greatest  anxiety  was  felt  with  regard  to  the 
expected  heir  of  the  House  of  Medici,  and  bitter  was  the 
chagrin  of  the  disappointed  Pontiff,  when  on  1 3th  April, 
1519,  the  news  was  brought  him  that  the  Duchess  of 
Urbino  had  been  delivered  of  a  daughter.  Any  further 
hope  of  a  male  heir  to  all  the  newly  acquired  glories  of 
the  Medici  was  shattered  a  fortnight  later,  when  in- 
formation was  sent  of  the  death  of  the  unhappy  Made- 
leine, who  was  herself  followed  to  the  grave  on  6th  May 
by  her  wretched  husband,  a  perfect  wreck  of  manhood, 
although  only  in  his  twenty-seventh  year. 

This  stream  of  catastrophes  spread  perfect  consterna- 
tion within  the  Vatican,  and  moreover  certainly  caused 
the  death  of  that  intriguing  woman,  Alfonsina  de'  Medici, 
Lorenzo's  mother,  whose  restless  ambition  had  so  often 
goaded  on  her  husband,  her  son,  and  even  her  brother- 
in-law  to  acts  of  folly  or  aggression  in  the  past.  With 
the  tidings  of  the  fatal  illness  of  the  last  legitimate  male 
of  the  Medicean  House  (save  the  Pontiff  himself),  the 
Cardinal  Giulio,  now  become  more  than  ever  a  personage 
of  importance  in  his  family,  had  been  hastily  despatched 
to  Florence,  but  though  he  arrived  there  before  the  duke's 
actual  decease,  he  does  not  seem  to  have  visited  the 
dying  prince,  who  had  invariably  treated  the  base-born 
Churchman  with  disdain.  But  on  news  of  Lorenzo's 
death  Giulio  took  prompt  measures  to  ensure  order 
throughout  the  city,  and  so  judicious  and  conciliatory  did 
he  show  himself,  that  public  confidence  was  quickly  re- 
stored. The  Cardinal  took  a  prominent  part  likewise 
in  the  obsequies  of  his  late  cousin,  who  was  interred 
within  the  basilica  of  San  Lorenzo,  with  all  the  dismal 
pomp  but  without  any  of  the  genuine  regret  that  three 
years  before  had  accompanied  his  uncle  Giuliano  the 
Good  to  the  tomb.  Arrogant  and  rough-mannered, 


262  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

ambitious  and  dissipated,  Lorenzo  II.  was  truly  exhibited 
as  the  heir  of  his  father  Piero  il  Pazzo,  and  if  we  may 
draw  a  fair  inference  from  the  character  of  himself  and 
of  his  only  daughter,  it  appears  no  small  fortune  for 
Florence  and  Italy  that  Lorenzo's  legitimate  offspring 
was  limited  to  the  baby-girl,  who  was  one  day  to  become 
famous  or  infamous  as  Caterina  de'  Medici,  Queen  of 
France. 

Not  only  did  the  Cardinal  Giulio  attend  his  relative 
to  the  grave,  but  it  was  he  who  in  after  years  caused 
Michelangelo  to  erect  that  pair  of  splendid  monuments,1 
the  wonder  and  delight  of  succeeding  ages,  which  mark 
the  last  resting  places  of  Giuliano  the  Good  and  his  un- 
worthy nephew  amidst  the  chill  magnificence  of  that 
echoing  mausoleum,  the  New  Sacristy  of  San  Lorenzo. 
With  his  form  clad  in  a  warrior's  tunic  and  with  head 
covered  by  the  plumed  helmet  sits  eternally  gazing  into 
space  the  worthless  Medici,  who  was  chosen  to  be  the 
ideal  prince  of  Machiavelli's  day-dreams.  The  statue's 
air  of  perfect  repose  and  of  calm  meditation  has  won  the 
epithet  of  //  Pensieroso  for  the  artist's  work,  which  offers 
the  strongest  contrast  with  his  feeble  representation  of 
the  charming  and  more  virtuous  Giuliano,  whose  pose 
appears  as  stilted  and  affected  as  any  despised  produc- 
tion of  the  school  of  Bernini.  But  it  is  impossible  for 
the  beholder  to  resist  the  dread  fascination  of  that 
mysterious  half-hidden  countenance  of  the  Duke 
Lorenzo,  whose  earthly  existence  has  been  thus  im- 
mortalised by  the  chisel  of  Michelangelo,  by  the  brush 
of  the  divine  Raphael,  and  by  the  pen  of  Machiavelli, 
albeit  the  sole  grandson  of  the  Magnificent  Lorenzo  was 
undoubtedly  the  least  worthy  of  remembrance  of  all 
the  Medici.  Yet  it  is  obvious  that  Michelangelo's  famous 

1  See  chapter  xii. 


STATUE   OF   LORENZO   DE'   MEDICI,   DUKE   OF   URBINO 


CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  CARDINALS  263 

statue  does  not  present  us  with  the  human  portraiture 
of  the  dissolute  Lorenzo,  the  Medicean  Duke  of  Urbino  ; 
on  the  contrary,  with  its  noble  air  of  meditation  and  its 
majestic  mien,  it  perpetuates  the  master's  conception  of 
that  ideal  prince,  whom  Italy  in  her  hour  of  sore  need 
and  peril  so  urgently  demanded,  that  perfect  tyrant 
whom  the  House  of  Medici,  despite  all  its  reputation  for 
genius  and  patriotism,  signally  failed  to  produce.  Not 
only  is  that  severe  and  cheerless  Sacristy  of  San  Lorenzo 
a  mortuary-chapel  of  departed  Medici,  it  is  also  the 
charnel-house  of  those  high  hopes  of  a  free  and  united 
Italy,  which  once  centred  round  the  living  members  of 
the  great  Florentine  House. 

There  from  age  to  age, 
Two  ghosts  are  sitting  on  their  sepulchres. 
That  is  the  Duke  Lorenzo.     Mark  him  well. 
He  meditates,  his  head  upon  his  hand. 
What  from  beneath  his  helm-like  bonnet  scowls  ? 
Is  it  a  face,  or  but  an  eyeless  skull  ? 
'Tis  not  in  shade,  yet  like  the  basilisk 
It  fascinates  and  is  intolerable. 
His  mien  is  noble,  most  majestical.1 

Cardinal  Giulio  de'  Medici  passed  the  whole  of  the 
summer  of  1519  in  Florence,  busily  engaged  in  making 
arrangements  for  the  better  government  of  the  city,  and 
even  inviting  its  leading  citizens,  and  amongst  them 
Niccolo  Machiavelli,  who  was  ever  striving  to  win  the 
favour  of  "these  Medicean  lords,"  to  draw  up  sugges- 
tions for  his  own  guidance.  Such  marked  ability  did 
Giulio  display  with  regard  to  Florentine  affairs,  and  so 
tactful  was  his  exercise  of  power  during  this  and  the 
following  three  years,  that  Roscoe  has  not  hesitated  to 
call  them  "the  most  brilliant  period  of  his  life".  Mean- 
while the  future  fate  of  Florence  was  left  hanging  in  the 

1  S.  Rogers,  Italy, 


264  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

balance,  for  the  Pontiff's  intentions  towards  his  native 
city  were  quite  unknown  to  his  intimate  counsellors, 
and  were  probably  as  yet  unfixed  in  his  own  mind. 
For  at  one  moment  he  would  hint  in  all  sincerity  at  a 
coming  restoration  of  political  freedom,  seeing  that  the 
legitimate  descendants  of  Cosimo,  "the  Father  of  his 
Country,"  were  all  extinguished  save  himself,  whilst  at 
other  times  it  appeared  evident  that  Leo  was  inclined 
to  keep  a  firm  hand  upon  the  city  which  he  had  re- 
covered with  such  pains  a  few  years  before.  But  whilst 
Florence  was  thus  enjoying  a  spell  of  rest  and  prosperity 
under  the  supervision  of  the  Cardinal  Giulio,  it  was 
finally  decided  that  the  Duchy  of  Urbino,  which  it  had 
cost  so  much  treasure  to  seize  and  still  more  to  retain, 
should  be  forcibly  annexed  to  the  States  of  the  Church, 
although  Lorenzo's  infant  girl  was  officially  styled 
Duchess  of  Urbino.  The  cost  of  this  disastrous  enter- 
prise, amounting  to  the  enormous  sum  of  800,000  ducats, 
Leo  decided  to  debit  in  part  to  the  reluctant  Florentines, 
who  in  return  for  their  enforced  payment  were  compen- 
sated with  the  conquered  district  of  Montefeltre  and  the 
great  rock-fortress  of  San  Leo.1  In  October  of  this 
same  year  Giulio,  leaving  Florentine  administration  in 
the  hands  of  Cardinal  Passerini  of  Cortona,  returned  to 
Rome,  taking  in  his  train  the  little  "  Duchessina,"  Caterina 
de'  Medici.  On  her  first  appearance  at  the  Vatican  the 
poor  orphan  girl  was  received  in  full  state  by  the  Pontiff, 
who  must  have  regarded  this  frail  atom  of  humanity, 
the  offspring  of  diseased  parents,  with  any  but  pleasur- 
able feelings.  Yet  such  was  the  versatility  of  Leo's 
mind  that  he  could  contrive  to  turn  even  so  tragical  and 

*A  vigorous  fresco  by  Vasari,  commemorating  the  capture  of 
San  Leo,  is  included  in  the  series  of  pictures  in  the  Ante-chamber  of 
the  Quartiere  di  Papa  Leone  X. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  CARDINALS  265 

piteous  an  incident  into  an  erudite  jest ;  Secum  fert 
aerumnas  Danatim  ! — she  brings  all  the  catastrophes  of 
Hellas  with  her  presence ! — observed  the  Pope  with  an 
apt  quotation  out  of  his  beloved  classics,  and  the  words 
thus  idly  spoken  proved  certainly  prophetic  with  regard 
to  the  country  over  which  the  little  Catherine  was 
eventually  fated  to  rule.  Perhaps  the  Pontiffs  deep- 
lying  chagrin  might  have  been  somewhat  assuaged 
could  he  but  have  foreseen  that  the  despised  baby-girl 
before  him,  his  great-niece,  only  five  months  of  age,  was 
to  become  a  future  Queen  of  France  and  the  mother  of 
three  sovereigns  and  a  Queen  of  Spain.  But  at  this 
moment  there  was  little  indeed  to  cheer  the  mind  of  the 
Pope,  who  now  found  himself  forced  by  a  perverse  fate 
to  abandon  all  his  cherished  schemes  of  family  ag- 
grandisement, when  his  own  burgher  line  was  thus 
reduced  to  himself  and  the  frail  Duchessina.  Questa 
e  troppo  gran  casa  per  si  poca  famiglia  ! — so  vast  a 
mansion  for  so  small  a  number ! — had  once  sighed  long 
ago  the  Pontiffs  great-grandfather,  the  wise  Cosimo  of 
pious  memory,  as  he  wandered  disconsolate  after  the 
loss  of  a  favourite  son  through  the  halls  of  the  palace  in 
Via  Larga ;  here  was  a  repetition  of  Cosimo's  sentiment 
in  far  more  serious  circumstances,  when  all  the  acquired 
power  and  splendour  of  the  aspiring  Medici  were  found 
concentrated  in  a  priest  and  a  sickly  baby-girl.  There 
was  the  Cardinal  Giulio,  it  is  true,  the  natural  cousin 
whom  he  had  legitimised,  his  most  attentive  counsellor 
and  adherent ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  from 
Lorenzo's  death  onward,  the  influence  of  the  Cardinal 
gained  a  complete  ascendancy  over  the  forlorn  Pontiff, 
whose  foreign  policy  began  to  reflect  more  and  more  the 
private  aims  of  that  subtle  and  secretive  Churchman. 
In  addition  to  Giulio,  there  were  the  two  younger 


266  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

bastards,  Giuliano's  handsome  and  engaging  little  son 
Ippolito,  who  was  a  favourite  with  the  Pope,  and  that 
swarthy  and  singularly  unattractive  child,  Alessandro  de' 
Medici,  whose  real  parentage  remains  a  subject  of 
speculation,  though  in  all  likelihood  he  was  the  natural 
son  of  the  Cardinal  Giulio  himself  rather  than  of  his 
reputed  sire,  the  late  Duke  Lorenzo.  Without  a  legiti- 
mate male  heir  save  his  distant  kinsmen  of  the  junior 
branch  of  the  family,  of  whom  he  took  little  notice  and 
was  in  fact  believed  to  be  jealous,  Leo's  original  and 
absorbing  desire  of  founding  a  Medicean  empire  in  Italy 
was  necessarily  brought  to  an  end,  so  that  he  began  to 
tire  of  the  tedious  routine  of  public  business  and  hence- 
forth to  pursue  his  various  amusements,  particularly  that 
of  the  chase,  with  an  ever-increasing  ardour  during  the 
few  remaining  years  of  his  life.  The  conduct  of  foreign 
policy  therefore  devolved  largely  upon  the  energetic 
Cardinal,  who,  if  he  lacked  Leo's  natural  talents,  owned 
far  greater  powers  of  application  to  business,  so  that  he 
now  became  the  true  exponent  of  Medicean  statecraft 
amidst  the  far-reaching  changes  impending  in  Europe. 
For  in  the  opening  days  of  the  year  1519  there  had  ex- 
pired the  old  Emperor  Maximilian,  for  whose  end  all 
Europe  had  long  been  waiting  with  mingled  feelings  of 
alarm  and  hope,  whilst  on  28th  June  of  the  same  year, 
in  spite  of  strong  opposition  from  the  courts  of  Rome 
and  Paris,  the  youthful  Charles,  King  of  Spain  and 
Naples,  was  duly  elected  emperor  with  the  title  of  Charles 
V.,  and  thus  from  the  very  extent  and  resources  of  his 
vast  realms  was  able  to  supplant  the  indignant  Francis 
of  France  as  the  leader  of  Europe  and  the  natural 
arbiter  of  her  fortunes.  For  nearly  two  years  Leo  and 
the  Cardinal  de'  Medici  continued  to  play  at  their 
favourite  game  of  political  vacillation  between  the  two 


CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  CARDINALS  267 

rival  powers,  but  on  2 9th  May,  1521,  a  definite  treaty 
of  alliance  between  Pope  and  Emperor  was  signed  to 
the  infinite  alarm  of  the  French  King.  Besides  the 
fear  of  the  Imperial  displeasure,  Charles'  promise  to 
restore  to  the  Holy  See  the  towns  of  Parma  and 
Piacenza,  the  deprivation  of  which  by  Francis  had  never 
ceased  to  rankle  in  the  Pontiffs  mind,  undoubtedly 
operated  to  impel  Leo  to  this  compact.  For  although 
the  hope  of  founding  a  Medicean  kingdom  in  Italy  had 
perished  eternally  for  lack  of  heirs,  yet  Leo  was  easily 
able  to  fall  back  on  the  former  ecclesiastical  policy  of 
Julius  II.,  which  aimed  at  extending  the  papal  boundaries 
and  at  driving  the  intruding  foreigner  out  of  Italy.  To 
keep  Urbino  and  Modena  for  the  Holy  See  and  to 
regain  the  lost  cities  of  Parma  and  Piacenza  for  the 
Papacy  became  now  the  main  object  of  the  Medici's 
policy,  which  belongs  rather  to  European  than  to  Italian 
history. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  the  same  year  the  long- 
threatened  war  between  King  and  Emperor  broke  out  in 
Lombardy,  that  favourite  theatre  of  all  military  opera- 
tions. Owing  to  the  poor  tactics  of  the  French  com- 
mander, the  Seigneur  de  Lautrec,  the  Imperial  army, 
supported  by  the  papal  forces,  was  able  to  form  a 
junction  with  the  Swiss  mercenaries,  and  to  proceed 
without  further  difficulty  towards  Milan.  That  city 
quickly  surrendered  to  the  vast  army  led  by  the 
Marquis  of  Pescara,  the  husband  of  the  celebrated 
Vittoria  Colonna,  and  ere  long  Parma  and  Piacenza  were 
also  in  the  hands  of  the  conquerors  of  Milan. 


CHAPTER  XI 
DEATH  AND  CHARACTER  OF  LEO  X 

What  grieves  me  most  is  to  hear  that  your  bed  is  constantly  sur- 
rounded by  physicians,  who  never  agree  in  any  opinion,  because  it 
would  be  accounted  derogatory  to  the  dignity  of  the  second  to  think 
like  the  first  and  repeat  his  views  of  the  case.  It  is  certain,  as  Pliny 
observes,  that  wishing  to  make  a  name  by  their  discoveries  they  try 
all  manner  of  experiments  upon  us  and  sport  with  our  lives.  Physi- 
cians acquire  their  art  at  our  expense,  by  killing  us  they  learn  means 
of  cure,  and  they  are  the  only  persons  permitted  to  slay  with  im- 
punity. Holy  Father !  regard  as  a  troop  of  foes  all  that  crowd  of 
doctors  which  surrounds  thee.  Think  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian's 
epitaph — Turba  medicorum  perii  !  (I  died  of  a  multitude  of  doctors !) 
(Letter  of  Petrarch  to  Pope  Clement  IV.}. 

THE  news  of  the  fall  of  Milan  and  the  subsequent 
recovery  of  Parma  and  Piacenza  by  the  Church 
was  sent  to  Rome  with  all  possible  speed  by 
the  Cardinal  Giulio  de'  Medici,  who  was  with  the  Im- 
perial forces  in  person,  the  glad  tidings  reaching  the 
Pope  about  sunset  of  Friday,  22nd  November,  1521,  at 
his  villa  of  the  Magliana.  Leo  had  just  returned  from 
the  chase,  somewhat  tired  and  heated,  but  on  reading 
the  Cardinal's  welcome  despatch,  he  hastily  summoned 
the  papal  master  of  ceremonies  to  his  presence  in  order 
to  confer  with  him  as  to  the  propriety  of  having  public 
rejoicings  in  the  city.  To  the  Pontiff's  eager  inquiry, 
that  wary  personage  made  reply  that  it  was  not  custom- 
ary for  the  Holy  See  thus  to  celebrate  the  result  of  any 
battle  waged  between  two  Christian  monarchs,  unless 
the  Church  had  some  special  interest  at  stake,  but  of 

268 


DEATH  AND  CHARACTER  OF  LEO  X      269 

such  a  case  the  Pontiff  himself,  as  head  of  the  Church, 
would  naturally  be  the  best  judge.  Leo,  amused  by  this 
ingenious  piece  of  sophistry,  at  once  answered  that  he 
had  every  reason  to  rejoice,  whereupon  Paris  de  Grassis 
declared  it  his  manifest  duty  to  return  openly  thanks 
to  the  Almighty  for  the  late  benefits  obtained.  The 
Pope  accordingly  commanded  his  master  of  the  cere- 
monies to  summon  a  full  consistory  of  the  cardinals  for 
the  ensuing  Wednesday,  and  "having  said  this  he  retired 
to  his  chamber,  where  he  remained  resting  for  some 
hours,  after  which  he  was  reported  later  to  complain  of 
feeling  unwell.  And  indeed  on  the  following  Wednesday 
no  consistory  could  be  held.  "  Such  is  the  bald  state- 
ment that  Paris  de  Grassis  has  presented  to  us  con- 
cerning Leo's  brief  but  fatal  illness,  the  first  symptoms 
of  which  undoubtedly  appeared  on  the  very  evening  that 
brought  him  the  good  news  of  the  victory  of  the  Imperial 
army  and  of  the  desired  restoration  of  Parma  and 
Piacenza  to  the  Church,  an  event  on  which  he  had  set 
his  heart  to  an  exorbitant  degree. 

According  to  common  belief  the  mental  excitement 
induced  by  this  welcome  but  sudden  intelligence,  acting 
upon  an  unwieldy  frame  already  weakened  by  chronic 
disease,  was  the  direct  cause  of  Leo's  premature  death, 
a  few  days  before  attaining  his  forty-sixth  birthday. 
Over-heated,  fatigued  and  agitated  by  the  recent  news, 
the  Pope  was  seized  with  a  violent  chill,  when  after  a 
close  damp  day  a  bitter  north  wind  arose  at  sunset, 
sweeping  over  the  Roman  Campagna  and  blowing  with 
icy  breath  into  the  courtyard  of  the  villa,  where  the 
papal  servants  were  already  lighting  a  huge  bonfire  in 
honour  of  the  victory.  Leaning  from  his  casement  in 
the  teeth  of  the  blast  to  applaud  the  efforts  of  his  men- 

1  Roscoe,  Appendix  CII. 


2 7o  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

at-arms  in  the  courtyard,  Leo  certainly  contracted  the 
feverish  catarrh,  which  compelled  him  two  days  after- 
wards to  return  to  the  Vatican,  but  which  the  doctors  of 
the  court  declared  to  be  of  no  great  consequence,  although 
he  was  far  too  unwell  to  attend  the  consistory  fixed  for  the 
following  Wednesday.  As  we  have  had  many  occasions 
to  remark,  it  was  a  superstitious  age,  that  drew  strong 
inferences  from  trivial  chances  or  portents,  so  that,  when 
Leo  on  returning  to  the  Vatican  found  in  his  own  apartment 
a  large  model  of  the  beautiful  tomb  which  Torrigiano, 
the  Tuscan  sculptor,  had  been  commissioned  to  erect  in 
Westminster  Abbey  for  the  late  King  Henry  VII.  of 
England,  he  became  not  a  little  distressed  in  mind  at  so 
ominous  a  coincidence.1  Indeed,  the  sight  of  Torrigiano's 
model  seems  to  have  inflicted  a  nervous  shock  upon  the 
ailing  Pontiff,  who  gradually  grew  worse  until  "on 
Sunday,  the  first  day  of  the  month  of  December,  at 
about  the  seventh  hour,  Pope  Leo  X.  expired  of  a 
violent  chill  without  anyone  warning  him  that  his  sick- 
ness was  mortal,  since  the  physicians  all  protested  he  was 
but  slightly  indisposed  owing  to  the  cold  he  had  taken 
at  the  Magliana". 

Various  highly  contradictory  accounts  have  been 
transmitted  to  us  of  the  Medici's  last  moments.  One 
of  these  relates  how  Leo  expired  in  an  agony  of  remorse 
for  his  unhappy  countrymen  butchered  nine  years  before 
by  the  cruel  Spanish  soldiery  at  Prato,  and  how  his 
dying  ears  were  filled  with  their  piteous  groans,  whilst 
the  Pope  in  his  terror  shrieked  aloud  "  Pratum  me 
terret!"  Another  description  is  from  the  pen  of  Fra 
Piacentino,  a  canon  of  the  Lateran,  who  moralises  at 
some  length  upon  Leo's  miserable  and  lonely  end,  with 
nobody  beside  him  save  Fra  Mariano  Fetti,  the  arch- 
1Jovius,  lib.  iv. 


DEATH  AND  CHARACTER  OF  LEO  X     271 

jester,  who  remained  with  his  dying  master  to  the  last, 
"as  a  straw  clings  to  an  empty  sack".  "Think  upon 
God,  Holy  Father ! "  the  Cowled  Buffoon  is  stated  to 
have  cried  on  this  sad  occasion,  to  which  exhortation 
the  poor  Pope  could  only  make  reply  by  calling  aloud 
thrice  on  the  Almighty  :  "  Dio  buono  !  Dio  buono !  Dio 
buono !  "  Jovius,  on  the  other  hand,  who  is  a  far  better 
authority,  attributes  a  more  dignified  as  well  as  more 
probable  termination  to  the  career  of  the  great  Pontiff. 
"Scarcely,"  relates  the  learned  Bishop  of  Nocera,  "had 
Leo  recognised  the  fatal  character  of  his  malady  and  the 
rapid  approach  of  his  last  moment  upon  earth,  than  he 
lost  all  consciousness  and  was  hurriedly  taken  from  this 
world.  Nevertheless,  some  few  hours  before  his  decease, 
he  clasped  his  hands  and  raised  them  to  Heaven  in  all 
humility,  whilst  with  upturned  eyes  he  gave  thanks  to 
God,  openly  professing  that  he  could  meet  the  stroke  of 
death  with  calmness,  now  that  he  had  seen  Parma  and 
Piacenza  restored  to  the  Church  without  any  spilling  of 
blood,  and  also  the  defeat  of  the  Church's  haughty  foe, 
the  King  of  France."  : 

It  is  difficult  to  extract  the  true  story  of  Leo's  last 
hours  from  statements  so  varied,  but  all  accounts  agree 
in  the  circumstance  that  the  final  stage  of  the  Pope's 
illness  was  terribly  swift  and  that  a  fatal  ending  was 
quite  unexpected  both  at  the  Roman  court  and  in  the 
city.  That  Leo  really  died  unattended  save  by  Fra 
Mariano  appears  most  improbable ;  seeing  that  the 
foreign  ambassadors  were  constantly  making  inquiry 
and  that  the  Pope's  own  sister,  Lucrezia  Salviati  (whom 
the  Venetian  envoy  accuses  of  laying  hands  on  every 
object  in  the  Vatican  at  her  brother's  death — sgombrb  il 
palazzo  di  tutto]  was  actually  residing  in  Rome  at  the 

^oscoe,  vol.  ii.,  p.  467,  note  32.         2  Jovius,  lib.  iv. 


272  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

time.  Nor  has  the  well-known  story,  that  Leo  expired 
without  receiving  the  last  sacraments,  ever  been  proved, 
though  it  is  not  impossible  that  his  fearfully  sudden  end 
may  have  allowed  no  time  for  the  due  performance  of 
the  last  rites  of  the  Church.  Nevertheless,  a  rumour  to 
this  effect  afforded  an  opportunity  to  some  malicious  wit, 
said  on  doubtful  authority  to  be  no  less  a  person  than 
the  poet  Sannazzaro,  to  insult  the  memory  of  the  dead 
Pontiff  by  the  composition  of  a  scandalous  distich  :— 

Sacra  sub  extrema  si  forte  requiritis  hora 
Cur  Leo  non  potuit  sumere ;  Vendiderat ! l 

"  Thou  didst  creep  into  our  midst  like  a  fox ;  thou 
didst  live  amongst  us  like  a  lion  ;  and  thou  hast  died 
like  a  dog  " 2 — a  repetition  of  the  cruel  epigram  composed 
two  centuries  before  on  the  death  of  Boniface  VIII.— 
was  another  of  the  satirical  lampoons  published  in  Rome 
concerning  the  deceased  Pontiff,  who  only  a  few  hours 
previously  had  been  the  object  of  universal  flattery. 
Yet  the  sound  of  these  chance  notes  of  discord  was  lost 
in  the  general  chorus  of  praise  and  wailing  which  super- 
vened on  the  news  of  Leo's  demise  in  so  sudden  a 
manner  and  at  so  early  an  age,  for  the  poets  and  scholars 
of  Rome  and  Florence,  whom  the  Pope  had  entertained 
so  lavishly  during  his  reign,  were  vying  with  each  other 
in  the  preparation  of  elegies  and  laments  for  the  passing 
of  an  ideal  patron,  whose  equal  both  in  learning  and  in 
liberality  they  were  never  likely  to  look  upon  again. 
Extravagant  as  it  may  appear,  the  epitaph  placed  on 
the  Medici's  temporary  tomb  in  St.  Peter's  echoed 

1  Without  the  Church's  sacraments  Pope  Leo  died,  I'm  told  ; 
How  could  he  e'er  receive  again  what  he  himself  had  sold  ? 

— Fabroni,  p.  238. 

2  Apud  nos  intravit  ut  vulpis ;  vixit  ut  leo  ;  exiit  ut  canis. 


DEATH  AND  CHARACTER  OF  LEO  X  273 

faithfully  the  heartfelt  grief  of  the  members  of  that  papal 
Parnassus,  which  Leo  had  called  into  existence  :— 

Deliciae  humani  generis,  Leo  Maxime,  tecum 
Ut  simul  illuxere,  interfere  simul.1 

Scarcely  had  Leo  breathed  his  last  and  the  court  and 
city  of  Rome  were  filled  with  utter  consternation,  than 
the  physicians,  with  the  Paduan,  Bernardino  Speroni, 
at  their  head,  began  to  dilate  upon  the  suspicious  nature 
of  the  late  Pope's  illness  and  death.  The  cardinals  at 
the  earnest  request  of  the  doctors  accordingly  ordered 
an  autopsy  of  the  body  to  be  made,  with  the  inevitable 
result  that  these  ignorant  physicians  at  once  began  to 
prate  of  symptoms  of  poisoning,  that  universal  bugbear 
of  an  age  wherein  the  science  of  medicine  had  sunk  to 
its  lowest  depth.  Many  persons,  from  the  King  of  France 
and  the  Duke  of  Urbino  to  the  meanest  scullions  of  the 
palace,  were  suggested  as  likely  individuals  to  have  com- 
passed or  carried  out  a  fell  deed,  for  which  in  reality 
there  was  not  a  tittle  of  evidence  forthcoming.  Indeed, 
Leo's  death  constituted  a  typical  case  in  which  the  utter 
failure  of  the  medical  men  to  cure  a  malarial  fever  com- 
plicated by  long-standing  disease,  and  the  spirit  of  the 
age  which  promptly  sought  for  a  criminal  motive  in  the 
sudden  demise  of  any  personage  of  note,  combined  to- 
gether in  attributing  so  unexpected  an  event  to  the 
agency  of  poison.  Bernarbo  Malespina,  the  papal  cup- 
bearer, was  now  apprehended  at  the  request  of  these  in- 
competent doctors,  and  cast  into  Sant'  Angelo,  whence 
the  unfortunate  and  innocent  man  was  only  liberated  by 
the  order  of  Cardinal  de'  Medici,  who  with  more  common- 
sense  than  the  physicians,  promptly  released  Malespina 

1  Great  Leo,  all  the  joys  of  life  that  be 
Go  mourning  to  thy  tomb  and  die  with  Thee ! 

— Fabroni,  p.  239. 
18 


274  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

on  hearing  the  absurd  details  of  the  charge.  Even  the 
faithful  Serapica,  who  had  everything  to  lose  and  nothing 
to  gain  by  being  deprived  of  a  generous  master,  was 
regarded  with  some  degree  of  suspicion,  and  the  poor 
little  man's  decent  melancholy  after  Leo's  death  was 
with  true  Italian  reasoning  set  down  to  the  deepest 
cunning  to  conceal  his  supposed  crime.  Possibly  but  for 
the  mistaken  handling  of  the  medicos,  Leo,  though  in 
delicate  health,  might  have  recovered  by  means  of 
ordinary  measures  and  by  a  strict  avoidance  of  the  ab- 
surd and  dangerous  drugs  supplied  to  him  by  Speroni 
and  his  colleagues.  But,  like  all  the  males  of  his  family, 
Leo  did  not  possess  the  robust  constitution  that  the  time 
required;  "his  head,"  remarks  Vettori,  "was  always 
choked  with  catarrh  and  his  appetite  was  so  capricious 
that  he  would  hardly  touch  food  one  day  and  on  the 
next  would  eat  to  repletion  "-1  A  quiet  and  regular  mode 
of  living  might  certainly  have  saved  the  Pope  on  this 
occasion,  and  have  preserved  his  life  for  many  years  to 
come.  For  in  spite  of  the  opinions  of  several  contem- 
poraries, who  honestly  believed  in  the  fantastic  theories 
of  the  doctors,  it  seems  fairly  obvious  that  Leo  X.  ex- 
pired as  the  victim  of  medical  incompetence  rather  than 
of  a  crime  for  political  ends,  as  the  Venetian  envoy,  the 
personal  friend  of  Speroni,  at  once  hinted  to  his  govern- 
ment. 

The  Pope's  corpse,  after  having  been  cut  up  and 
dissected  to  satisfy  the  curiosity  of  the  physicians,  was 
buried  in  St.  Peter's  with  great  haste  and  with  small 
pomp,  for  the  papal  treasury  was  well-nigh  empty,  and 
the  Florentine  bankers  in  Rome,  who  saw  ruin  staring 
them  in  the  face  owing  to  Leo's  untimely  death,  were 
naturally  in  no  humour  to  advance  large  sums  of  money 

1  Villari,  vol.  ii.,  p.  254. 


DEATH  AND  CHARACTER  OF  LEO  X     275 

upon  a  costly  funeral  worthy  of  the  Papal  Maecenas. 
Many  years,  in  fact,  elapsed  before  a  monument  was 
reared  to  recall  the  memory  of  Leo  X.,  and  his  existing 
tomb  in  the  choir  of  the  great  Dominican  church  of 
Santa  Maria  sopra  Minerva— no  inappropriate  temple  to 
enshrine  the  recollection  of  the  brief  reign  of  the  Goddess 
of  Learning  in  Rome — is  due  to  the  generosity  of  the 
Pope's  nephew,  Cardinal  Ippolito  de'  Medici,  who 
cherished  many  instances  of  Leo's  kindness  to  him  in 
childhood.  Antonio  da  Sangallo  is  credited  with  the 
design,  and  Baccio  Bandinelli  with  the  execution  of  this 
mediocre  specimen  of  Renaissance  art,  which  is  wholly 
unfit  to  serve  as  the  depository  of  the  ashes  of  Giovanni 
de'  Medici,  Pope  Leo  X.,  or  to  rank  as  "a  monu- 
ment of  the  Golden  Age  of  Italy,  which  is  for  ever  as- 
sociated with  the  names  of  Leo  and  the  Medici,  just  as 
the  age  of  Horace  was  linked  with  those  of  Maecenas 
and  Augustus  ".*  In  short,  this  erection  of  a  later  period 
obviously  belongs  to  that  type  of  mausoleum  which 
strives  to  be  imposing  through  mere  size  and  pathetic 
by  means  of  expense.  The  large  white  marble  statue 
of  the  Pontiff,  with  the  left  hand  grasping  the  keys  of 
St.  Peter  and  with  the  right  elevated  in  an  eternal  but 
languid  benediction,  stands  out  clear  against  the  back- 
ground of  dark  basalt,  but  has  a  singularly  heavy  and 
lifeless  aspect.  Nor  can  the  allegorical  figures  and  bas- 
reliefs  upon  the  monument  itself  claim  to  be  considered 
works  of  art.  Opposite  to  Leo's  tomb,  and  identical 
with  it  in  treatment  and  design,  stands  that  of  the  second 
Medicean  Pope,  Clement  VII.,  whose  handsome  bearded 
face  and  more  graceful  figure  appear  to  better  advan- 
tage than  the  clumsy  and  undignified  form  of  his  happier 
predecessor.  Thus  in  the  choir  of  the  famous  church  "  are 

1  F.  Gregorovius,  Tombs  of  the  Popes,  p.  98. 


276  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Fortune  and  Misfortune  represented  in  the  tombs  of  two 
kinsmen  of  a  celebrated  family  ;  the  two  reverses  of  the 
coin  of  life  "/  Both  monuments  in  their  heavy  classical 
setting  combine  ill  with  the  Gothic  architecture  and  the 
gaudy  painted  windows  of  the  Dominican  church,  and 
comparatively  few  persons  take  the  trouble  to  penetrate 
behind  the  choir  screen  to  inspect  these  rather  feeble 
productions  of  Florentine  sculptors.  At  the  foot  of 
Leo's  tomb  a  marble  slab  in  the  pavement  proclaims  to 
the  passing  stranger  that  the  cultured  and  erudite  Pietro 
Bembo,  friend  and  secretary  of  the  Papal  Maecenas, 
reposes  at  the  feet  of  the  master  whom  he  survived  for 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century.  By  a  curious  chance,  at 
the  rear  of  Leo's  ponderous  monument,  in  the  northern 
ambulatory  of  the  choir,  is  to  be  seen  a  simple  effigy, 
which  is  far  better  known  and  revered  than  the  monstre 
tombs  of  the  Medicean  Pontiffs,  for  it  is  nothing  less  than 
the  carved  slab  which  denotes  the  last  resting-place  of 
the  gentle  monk  Giovanni  of  Fiesole,  known  to  all  the 
world  as  the  saintly  painter,  Fra  Angelico.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  find  a  sharper  contrast  than  that  afforded  by 
the  two  figures  of  that  jovial  child  of  Fortune,  the  first 
Medicean  Pope,  and  his  humble  countryman,  the  simple 
monk  from  aery  Fiesole,  whose  emaciated  form,  worn 
with  prayer  and  fasting,  meets  our  eyes  with  arms 
meekly  folded  across  the  breast  and  with  the  beautiful 
head  reposing  on  its  stony  tasselled  pillow.  Yet  that 
Italy  could  produce  two  such  diverse  types  of  Church- 
men in  the  years  of  the  Renaissance  is  not  the  least  of 
the  many  marvels  of  that  incongruous  age.  Thus  Leo 
X.  stands  for  the  power,  the  splendour,  the  paganism, 
the  patronage,  the  learning  and  the  intense  worldliness 
of  that  period  ;  the  gifted  Dominican  monk  for  the  ex- 

1 F.  Gregorovius,  Tombs  of  the  Popes. 


DEATH  AND  CHARACTER  OF  LEO  X  277 

treme  simplicity  and  piety  that  found  their  vent  in  the 
painting  of  sacred  masterpieces,  such  as  all  succeeding 
ages  have  failed  lamentably  to  rival  in  their  naive  but 
exquisite  loveliness. 

Non  mihi  sit  laudi  quod  eram  velut  alter  Apelles, 
Sed  quod  lucra  tuis  omnia,  Christe,  dabam — l 

such  are  the  opening  lines  of  the  Latin  epitaph  of  the 
holy  Tuscan  painter,  who  rejected  the  gauds  and  lucre 
of  this  life,  and  worked  solely  for  the  glory  of  God, 
Whose  reward,  he  well  knew,  far  surpassed  all  that  the 
rulers  of  earth  could  bestow.  On  the  other  hand,  we 
behold  one  in  whom  all  the  pleasures  and  duties  of  life 
alike  were  centred ;  one  who  allowed  the  spiritual  ideals 
of  the  monk  of  Fiesole  to  be  utterly  eclipsed  by  the  con- 
tending forces  of  flattery  and  worldly  power.  Verily, 
Leo  X.  and  Fra  Angelico  have  obtained  a  portion  of 
their  due  reward  in  the  verdict  of  succeeding  genera- 
tions. 

It  ought  to  be  unnecessary  to  remind  the  reader  that 
the  character  and  career  of  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  Pope 
Leo  X.,  ought  in  all  fairness  to  be  judged  by  a  contempor- 
ary and  not  by  a  modern  standard  of  ethics  and  ideas. 
Like  his  father  before  him,  Leo  was  essentially  a 
Florentine  of  the  Renaissance,  endowed  with  all  the 
tastes,  virtues  and  failings  of  the  great  citizens  of  Flor- 
ence during  that  epoch. 

"In  everything,"  remarks  Herr  Ludwig  Pastor, 
Leo's  latest  German  biographer,  "he  was  truly  a  son  of 
his  time,  wherein  the  good  and  the  bad  were  so  closely 
intermingled.  His  whole  nature  reveals  an  extra- 

1  Apelles,  fame  was  mine  ;  'twas  nought  to  me 
Save  that,  O  Christ,  I  gave  all  gain  to  Thee ! 


278  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

ordinary  mixture  of  praiseworthy  and  un-praiseworthy 
qualities  ; — that  nature,  light,  gay  and  many-sided,  which 
only  too  willingly  cast  aside  all  that  was  serious,  deep 
and  original.  Shining  in  all  branches  of  the  intellectual 

o  o 

movement  of  the  Renaissance,  he  is  particularly  eminent 
in  this,  namely,  that  he  draws  to  himself  men  of  the 
most  opposite  character  and  of  diverse  nationality."1 

His  many  political  shifts,  which  were  the  despair  of 
contemporary  sovereigns  and  excite  the  indignant  surprise 
of  modern  critics,  were,  however,  by  no  means  censured 
severely  in  his  own  age ;  indeed,  men  found  more  to 
admire  than  to  reprobate  in  Leo's  selfish  and  tortuous 
policy.  In  any  case,  some  excuse  for  this  is  to  be 
sought  in  the  difficult  position  in  which  he  was  placed  on 
the  papal  throne,  midway  between  the  rival  powers  of 
the  Spanish-Austrian  Empire  on  one  side  and  of  France 
on  the  other.  As  the  weakest  member  of  the  triumvirate 
of  Spain,  France  and  the  Papacy,  Leo  always  tried 
to  make  up  in  cunning  what  he  lacked  in  real  support. 
And,  moreover,  taught  from  his  infancy  at  his  father's 
court  to  be  both  secretive  and  self-seeking,  he  had  not 
been  improved  by  the  long  years  of  poverty  and  en- 
forced exile,  during  which  he  had  been  compelled  to 
hide  even  his  natural  ambition  of  a  Medicean  restoration 
in  Florence.  From  an  excess  of  caution  in  these  days 
of  penury  and  insignificance,  he  had  grown  gradually  so 
steeped  in  the  arts  of  dissimulation,  that  on  attaining  to 
real  and  settled  power,  he  found  himself  quite  unable 
to  follow  any  straight  path  or  to  commit  himself  to  any 
fixed  and  open  aim,  like  the  more  candid  Julius  II. 
In  short,  duplicity  became  a  second  nature  to  him. 
"  Never,"  remarked  the  legate  Aleander  in  after  years, 
"  have  I  met  with  a  man  so  secretive  and  averse  to 
1  Leo  X.,  chap.  x. 


DEATH  AND  CHARACTER  OF  LEO  X  279 

pursuing  a  definite  policy."  Nevertheless,  we  must 
give  Leo  credit  for  a  genuine  if  vague  desire  to  obtain 
the  expulsion  of  the  French  and  Spanish  invaders  out  of 
Italian  territory.  Such  a  noble  and  patriotic  aspiration 
may  have  been  subsidiary  to  ignoble  and  private  aims, 
yet  it  undoubtedly  occupied  the  Pope's  mind,  even  if, 
in  the  unkind  phrases  of  an  English  critic,  "it  divided  his 
attention  with  manuscripts  and  sauces,  painters  and 
falcons". l  But  the  grand  conception,  though  hidden  to 
many  observers,  was  certainly  existent,  and  was  per- 
ceptible to  the  sharp  eyes  of  Machiavelli.  "  It  was  this 
great  though  mutable  ambition  of  Leo's  that  continually 
deceived  Machiavelli,"  writes  Professor  Villari.  "It  was 
thus  that  the  Florentine  secretary  had  been  inspired  to 
compose  his  Prince,  and  had  despatched  so  many  letters 
to  Vettori  and  others  in  order  to  feed  the  flame.  But 
whenever  seeming  to  burn  most  brightly,  the  fire  always 
expired  on  a  sudden  without  leaving  a  spark  behind."2 
Of  Leo's  personal  character,  we  trust  a  correct  idea 
has  been  formed  from  the  preceding  pages  of  this  work. 
That  he  ascended  the  papal  throne  with  the  highest 
reputation  for  culture,  virtue  and  peaceful  inclinations, 
we  have  already  shown  ;  and  we  have  also  endeavoured 
to  explain  how  this  early  esteem  was  lost,  both  in  the 
eyes  of  his  own  generation  as  well  as  of  posterity,  through 
the  Pope's  constant  frivolity  and  selfish  ambition.  It  is 
possible  that  to  a  certain  extent  the  Medici's  nature  was 
transformed  for  the  worse  by  the  new-found  power,  the 
wealth  and  the  adulation,  which  came  to  him  as  Pope 
after  many  years  spent  in  adversity  ;  but  it  seems  hard  to 
imagine,  if  he  were  in  reality  so  good  as  he  was  reputed, 
that  his  elevation  to  the  pontificate  proved  the  utter  ruin 

1  Macaulay,  Essay  on  Machiavelli. 

2  Villari,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  253,  254. 


280  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

of  his  morals,  and  that  he  grew  vicious  instead  of  more 
virtuous.  Without  speculating  further  as  to  this  point, 
it  will  be  sufficient  to  quote  Guicciardini's  moderate 
appreciation  of  Leo  X.  as  "  a  prince,  who  greatly  deceived 
the  high  expectations  entertained  of  him,  when  he  was 
raised  to  the  Papacy,  since  he  therein  displayed  more 
cunning  and  less  goodness  than  the  world  had  imagined 
of  him.  .  .  .  Yet  he  passed  for  a  good  prince,  though  I 
dare  not  say  of  an  Apostolic  goodness,  seeing  that  in 
our  corrupt  times  the  virtue  of  a  Pontiff  is  commended, 
when  he  does  not  surpass  the  wickedness  of  other 
men."1 

Grave  charges  of  immorality  have  been  levelled  at 
Leo  certainly,  but  only  by  those  who  lived  in  later  ages 
and  were  highly  prejudiced,  and  such  persons  seem  to 
have  based  their  attacks  mostly  on  a  somewhat  obscure 
passage  in  the  Fourth  Book  of  Jovius'  Life  of  Leo  X. 
These  scandalous  whispers  may  promptly  be  rejected, 
since  there  is  to  be  found  no  definite  charge  in  any  con- 
temporary writer  of  personal  impropriety  on  the  Pope's 
part,  in  whatever  degree  he  may  be  held  answerable 
for  the  evil  morals  prevailing  at  his  court,  or  for  the 
vicious  tone  in  the  society  of  Rome  during  his  pontificate. 

Even  more  serious,  but  likewise  more  improbable, 
than  this  vague  accusation  of  gross  conduct  is  that  of 
blasphemous  infidelity,  still  occasionally  to  be  encountered 
in  old-fashioned  works  of  a  markedly  Protestant  tendency, 
for  it  is  true  that  "  the  most  fruitful  cause  of  animosity 
against  Leo  X.  is  to  be  found  in  the  violence  of  religious 
zeal  and  sectarian  hatred".2  It  is  easy  to  comprehend 
how  such  a  charge  came  at  a  later  date  to  be  levelled 
at  the  Papal  Maecenas,  the  "pagan"  Pope,  who  delighted 


1  Storie  <T  Italia,  lib.  xi. 
'2  Roscoe,  vol.  ii.,  p.  475. 


DEATH  AND  CHARACTER  OF  LEO  X     281 

in  the  art  and  language  of  antiquity,  but  it  ought  to  be 
superfluous  to  describe  this  insinuation  as  a  base  calumny. 
For  it  is  founded  mainly  on  a  famous  and  oft-quoted,  but 
impudently  mendacious  statement  contained  in  a  scurrilous 
treatise  called  the  Pageant  of  Popes  by  John  Bale,1  who 
therein  openly  professed  it  his  intention  "to  give  the 
Roman  Church  double  according  to  her  works  ".     This 
tract,    which    bristles    throughout    with    historical    in- 
accuracies, contains  the  following  outrageous  anecdote 
concerning  Leo  X.  :  "  On  a  time  when  cardinal  Bembus 
did  move  a  question  out  of  the  gospell,  the  pope  gave 
him    a  very   contemptuous  answere,  saying,    All  ages 
can  testify  enough  how  profitable  that  fable  of  Christe 
hath  bin  to  us  and  our  companie" ?     It  stands  to  reason 
that  this  remark  is  a  spiteful  and  monstrous  invention 
of  a  rabid  or  unscrupulous  Reformer,  and  the  same  com- 
ment may  reasonably  be  applied  to  a  somewhat  similar 
tale  ;  namely,  that  Leo's  secretary,  the  aforesaid  Bembo, 
strictly  enjoined  his  colleague  Sadoleto  to  refrain  from 
studying  the  Vulgate,   lest  its   indifferent   Latin  might 
spoil  his  elegant  and  graceful  style  of  writing.     On  the 
contrary,  there  exists  much  evidence  to  prove  that  Leo 
was  personally  most  conscientious  in  his  public  religious 
duties.     No  contemporary  writer  has  given  the  smallest 
hint  as  to  the  Pope's  unbelief,  open  or  concealed,  nor 
has   modern   research  in    the   archives    of  the   various 
Italian  cities  revealed  the  slightest  ground  for  such  an 
insinuation.      From  his  childhood  the  Pontiff  had  been 
expressly  educated  with  a  view  to  his  attaining  to  the 

1  John  Bale,  formerly  a  Carmelite  monk  at  Norwich  and  later  a 
staunch  upholder  of  the  Reformed  religion,  was  appointed  Bishop  of 
Ossory  in  1552.  On  Mary's  accession  he  had  to  fly  to  the  Continent, 
but  returned  to  England  in  1559,  dying  at  Canterbury  in  1563. 

2 "  Quantum  nobis  nostrisque  ea  de  Christo  fabula  profuerit,  satis 
est  omnibus  saeculis  notum  "  (Roscoe,  vol.  ii.,  p.  490,  note  30). 


282  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

highest  rank  in  the  Church — "together  with  his  nurse's 
milk,"  writes  Politian  with  genuine  enthusiasm,  "did  he 
suck  in  piety  and  religion,  preparing  himself  even  from 
his  cradle  for  the  holy  offices  ".  Even  if  Leo's  notorious 
frivolity  and  love  of  amusement  may  afford  some  ground 
for  the  allegation  of  vicious  habits,  Bale's  absurd  charge 
of  atheism  can  be  accounted  scandalous  only  in  its  original 
inventor. 

It  is  certain,  that  at  least  outwardly,  Leo  was  always 
most  diligent  in  his  ecclesiastical  duties  and  orthodox  in 
his  expressed  opinions,  exhibiting  to  the  world  thereby 
an  edifying  contrast  with  the  unseemly  behaviour  of 
Julius  II.,  who  was  habitually  careless  of  all  ceremonial, 
openly  showing  his  impatience  thereof  both  in  manner 
and  countenance.  Leo,  on  the  other  hand,  took  a 
dignified  part  in  endless  services,  and  Paris  de  Grassis 
describes  how  during  the  protracted  ceremonies  in  hot 
weather  he  used  to  observe  the  exhausted  Pope  wiping 
the  perspiration  with  a  kerchief  from  his  streaming  face. 
Daily  Leo  was  wont  to  hear  Mass  in  the  beautiful  oratory 
of  Nicholas  V.  with  its  series  of  exquisite  frescoes  from 
the  brush  of  the  holy  Fra  Angelico.  He  kept  rigorously 
the  days  of  fasting  ordained  by  the  Church  ;  invariably 
he  went  to  confession  before  celebrating  Mass  in  public. 
He  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  training  of  the  Sistine 
choir,  lecturing  the  papal  choristers  not  only  on  the 
subject  of  music  but  also  on  their  moral  behaviour  out 
of  service  hours.  "His  religious  duties  he  fulfils  con- 
scientiously," comments  the  Venetian  envoy,  "but  he 
likes  to  enjoy  life,  and  takes  an  inordinate  pleasure  in  the 
chase."1  Even  Paolo  Sarpi,  the  outspoken  friar  of 
Venice,  admits  that  Leo  brought  many  good  qualities  to 

1  He  is  buon  religioso,  admits  Marco  Minio. 


DEATH  AND  CHARACTER  OF  LEO  X  283 

the  papal  throne,  and  proceeds  to  say  he  would  have 
made  a  perfect  Pope,  if  to  these  good  qualities  he  had 
but  joined  some  recognition  of  the  claims  of  Religion 
and  shown  some  inclination  to  true  piety,  but  for  neither 
of  these  things  did  he  care  much.1  These  comments  of 
Sarpi,  Guicciardini,  the  Venetian  ambassadors  and  others 
do  not  present  a  very  favourable  account  of  Leo's  con- 
duct, yet  they  afford  sufficient  evidence  to  contradict  these 
flimsy  charges  of  religious  indifference  or  atheism. 

It  is  no  difficult  task  to  detect  and  point  out  the  real 
failings  in  Leo's  character,  those  failings  which  have 
earned  for  him,  not  altogether  with  justice,  the  unenviable 
reputation  of  being  reckoned  amongst  the  evil  Pontiffs  of 
the  secular  Papacy.  It  was  his  extravagance,  his  con- 
stant waste  of  time  and  treasure  on  pursuits  which, 
though  not  immoral  in  themselves,  had  become  criminal 
in  his  case,  because  they  were  carried  to  excess.  Added 
to  this  extravagance,  which  involved  the  Holy  See  in 
endless  difficulties,  was  Leo's  besetting  sin  of  frivolity, 
his  persistent  refusal  to  take  his  position  seriously.  Ex- 
travagance and  frivolity ;- — to  these  two  moral  failings 
in  Leo  X.  can  be  traced,  directly  or  indirectly,  many  of 
those  events  which  were  destined  shortly  to  disturb 
Western  Christendom.  If  Leo  had  not  been  so  en- 
grossed in  idle  and  selfish  amusements,  he  could  not  have 
failed  to  discern  the  religious  storm  that  was  brewing  in 
Germany,  the  storm  that  the  Medici's  undeniable  tact 
and  ability  might  have  done  so  much  to  allay.  But  Leo 
preferred  to  shut  his  eyes  and  "to  enjoy  the  Papacy," 
basking  in  the  sunshine  of  adulation  and  luxury  beneath 
a  blue  serene  sky,  wherein  he  deliberately  refused  to 
notice  the  distant  shadows  of  the  thunder-clouds  of  the 

1  Hisloria  del  Concilio  Tridentino,  lib.  i. 


284  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

tempest  coming  from  beyond  the  Alps.  That  cynical 
French  proverb,  Apres  moi  le  deluge,  might  even  have 
been  taken  for  the  true  motto  of  this  papal  hedonist. 

"  In  the  breast  of  Leo  the  Tenth  dwelt  two  souls !  " 
exclaims  Professor  Pastor,  and  indeed  this  sentiment  will 
be  echoed  by  all  who  have  cared  to  study  the  life  and 
pontificate  of  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  Pope  Leo  X.  But 
it  is  more  kind  and  pleasant  to  look  upon  the  brighter 
side  of  his  character,  and  to  regard  Leo  as  the  splendid 
patron  of  art  and  letters,  as  the  learned  and  genial  son  of 
Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  as  the  friend  of  Raphael  and 
the  incarnation  of  the  glories  of  the  Leonine  Age.  Let 
us  try  to  forget  his  share  in  the  evil  deeds  that  preceded 
the  movement  of  Martin  Luther,  his  perfidy  towards  his 
old  companion  Petrucci,  his  utter  failure  to  fulfil  those 
high  hopes  that  Christendom  had  formed  at  his  election  ; 
let  us  think  rather  of  him  as  the  Supreme  Pontiff 

Whom  Europe  views 

With  wondering  awe,  her  pastor  and  her  guide, 
From  great  Lorenzo  sprung  ;  the  brightest  Star 
Of  Medicean  fame,  with  conscious  pride 
Whom  his  own  Florence  hails  ;  and  from  afar 
The  sceptr'd  rulers  of  the  nations  own, 
And  as  their  lord  obey ;  in  towering  state 
Imperial  Leo  named,  who  bears  alone 
The  key  that  opes  Olympus'  lofty  gate.1 

^oscoe,  vol.  i.,  Appendix  XXXII.  "  Trans/atwn  of  the  Greek 
verses  of  Marcus  Muscarus  prefixed  to  the  works  of  Plato" 


CHAPTER  XII 
CLEMENS  SEPTIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS 

Many  a  stone  has  been  cast  at  the  memory  of  Clement  VII.  by 
Italian  writers  of  all  ages,  from  his  own  to  the  present,  for  postponing 
his  patriotism  to  the  gratification  of  less  worthy  passions.  But  had 
the  majority  of  his  countrymen  been  justified  in  casting  the  first  stone 
of  reproach  for  such  a  sin,  their  unabated  longing  for  such  a  deliver- 
ance of  Italy  would  not  have  been  at  the  present  day  (1855)  ungrati- 
fied  (T.  A.  Trollope). 

THE  interval  separating  the  reigns  of  the  two 
Medicean  Pontiffs  was  destined  to  be  a  brief 
one.  In  the  middle  of  December,  1521,  the 
Cardinal  de'  Medici  hurried  full  of  eager  hopes  back 
to  Rome  from  the  Imperialist  camp  in  Lombardy,  and 
presented  himself  in  ample  time  for  the  conclave  which 
opened  on  the  28th  day  of  the  same  month.  But  in 
spite  of  the  pervading  Medicean  influence  (for  more  than 
half  the  members  of  the  Sacred  College  had  been 
created  by  the  late  Pontiff),  a  strong  faction,  headed  by 
Francesco  Soderini,  the  most  persistent  foe  of  the  House 
of  Medici,  was  already  formed  to  oppose  the  expected 
election  of  Leo's  cousin.  So  fierce  and  powerful  was 
this  cabal  in  the  College,  that  ere  long  Giulio  de'  Medici 
thought  it  useless  to  prosecute  his  candidature  further, 
and  accordingly  declared  himself  willing  to  support  any 
fit  nominee  of  the  Imperialist  party.  Notwithstanding 
the  critical  and  even  alarming  aspect  of  the  political  situa- 
tion, the  utmost  desire  to  obtain  the  tiara  was  exhibited 

285 


286  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

by  nearly  all  the  cardinals,  foremost  amongst  them  being 
that  partially  reformed  libertine  Alessandro  Farnese,  and 
the  powerful  English  favourite  of  Henry  VIII.,  Thomas 
Wolsey,  Cardinal  of  York.  It  was  finally  only  by  means 
of  something  resembling  a  tacit  compromise,  that  the 
thirty-nine  cardinals  assembled  almost  unanimously  de- 
cided upon  the  choice  of  the  most  virtuous  and  also  the 
least  known  of  their  number  in  the  person  of  Adrian  of 
Utrecht,  Cardinal  of  Tortosa.  Adrian  Dedel,  a  Fleming 
of  lowly  birth,  was  in  his  sixty-third  year  when  he  was 
thus  called  upon  to  fill  the  vacant  throne  of  the  resplend- 
ent Leo  X.,  who  had  included  his  humble  successor, 
then  tutor  to  the  future  Emperor  Charles  V., .  in  his 
wholesale  creation  of  cardinals  in  1517.  This  unex- 
pected selection  of  one  who  was  at  once  a  saintly  ascetic, 
a  foreigner,  and  a  plebeian  aroused  a  storm  of  angry 
derision  in  the  city  and  court  of  Rome  ;  nor  on  the  other 
hand  did  the  news  bring  any  delight  to  the  recipient  of 
this  high  dignity.  For  Adrian,  then  absent  in  Spain, 
heard  of  his  elevation  with  a  deep  groan,  abandoning 
himself  to  genuine  despair  at  the  thought  of  the  awful 
responsibility  and  the  difficulty  of  the  uncongenial  task 
before  him.  Late  in  the  summer  of  1522,  the  hew 
Pontiff,  entitled  Adrian  VI.,  the  last  German  and  indeed 
the  last  non- Italian  Pope,  entered  the  gates  of  Rome, 
whose  regeneration  he  professed  himself  so  anxious  to 
effect,  and  at  once  set  to  inaugurate  a  series  of  pious  but 
fruitless  endeavours  to  inspire  some  true  Christian  ideals 
into  the  voluptuous  and  extravagant  city,  which  was  the 
capital  of  Western  Christendom.  The  melancholy  tale 
of  poor  Adrian's  hopeless  attempt  to  reform  the  Church 
and  to  infuse  some  jot  of  Christian  conscience  and  charity 
into  those  two  selfish  potentates,  Francis  of  France  and 
his  own  inept  pupil  the  Emperor,  lies  wholly  outside  the 


CLEMENS  SEPTIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS        287 

limits  of  this  work.  After  a  residence  barely  exceeding 
a  twelvemonth  in  "  that  sink  of  all  iniquity,"  the  unhappy 
Pope  (whose  reign  was  marked,  amongst  other  misfor- 
tunes which  he  was  powerless  to  avert,  by  the  capture 
of  Rhodes  and  the  expulsion  of  its  Christian  knights 
from  their  ancient  citadel)  fell  sick  of  a  strange  consum- 
ing malady,  which  according  to  the  learned  Roman 
physicians  was  due  to  poison  administered  by  some  agent 
of  the  French  King  ;  although  a  heart  chilled  by  a  sense 
of  complete  failure  and  deeply  injured  by  the  callous 
apathy  or  bitter  enmity  of  those  around  him  in  Rome 
seems  to  have  constituted  the  true  cause  of  Adrian's 
death  on  i4th  September,  1523.  All  Rome  was  de- 
lighted at  the  release  from  the  presence  of  this  spiritual 
reformer,  whose  humble  figure,  "in  immediate  contrast 
with  Leo  X.  and  against  the  storm-lighted  background 
of  the  German  Reformation,  is  one  of  the  most  tragic 
in  the  history  of  the  Papacy".1  Assuming,  probably 
not  without  reason,  that  the  Pope's  demise  was  acceler- 
ated by  the  nostrums  of  his  court  physician,  the  wits  of 
the  city  hung  grateful  garlands  to  the  door-posts  of  that 
functionary,  with  an  inscription  naming  him  the  liberator 
of  the  Roman  Senate  and  People  from  the  late  foreign 
domination  :  an  attention  which  proved  more  embarras- 
sing than  flattering  to  the  personage  selected  for  this 
civic  honour. 

Shortly  after  Adrian's  arrival  in  Rome,  Giulio  de' 
Medici,  fearing  the  influence  of  his  old  rival  Francesco 
Soderini,  who  stood  high  in  the  new  Pope's  favour,  had 
retired  to  Florence,  which  he  proceeded  to  govern  with 
tact  and  clemency  in  the  name  of  the  family  whereof  he 
had  now  become  the  most  influential  member,  since  he 
was  the  guardian  of  the  young  Lorenzo's  heiress, 
1  F.  Gregorovius,  vol.  viii.,  part  ii. 


288  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Caterina  de'  Medici,  as  well  as  of  the  two  illegitimate 
lads,  Ippolito  and  Alessandro.  Recalled  to  Rome 
towards  the  close  of  his  brief  reign  by  the  reforming 
Adrian,  who  was  now  openly  following  the  Imperialist 
party,  Medici  had  taken  up  his  abode  in  the  splendid 
palace  of  the  late  Cardinal  Riario,  who  had  been  forced 
by  Leo  X.  to  cede  this  building  at  the  time  of  his  down- 
fall in  1517.  Here  Giulio  de'  Medici,  now  consulted 
and  distinguished  by  the  ascetic  Pontiff,  continued  to 
reside  in  great  state ; — indeed,  the  Cardinal  was  far 
more  courted  and  esteemed  by  the  Roman  people  than 
the  foreign  intruder  at  the  Vatican,  where  the  silent 
halls  and  empty  galleries  testified  plainly  to  the  unpopu- 
lar ideas  of  strict  economy  and  of  virtuous  simplicity 
which  that  despised  barbarian  was  striving  to  introduce. 
Driven  from  the  Apostolic  palace,  the  poets  and  artists, 
who  had  recently  battened  at  the  court  of  Leo  X., 
found  their  way  to  the  Medici's  mansion,  so  that  it  verily 
appeared  as  if  the  gorgeous  mantle  of  the  lamented  Leo 
had  fallen  on  his  cousin,  the  natural  son  of  the  murdered 
Giuliano. 

The  obsequies  of  the  unhappy  Adrian,  whose  burial- 
place  is  marked  by  the  beautiful  monument  in  the 
national  church  of  the  Germans,  Santa  Maria  dell' 
Anima,  were  carried  out  in  the  latter  days  of  September, 
and  on  ist  October  thirty-five  cardinals  entered  the 
Sistine  Chapel  for  the  conclave,  Medici's  cell  being  by 
accident  or  design  placed  below  Perugino's  fine  fresco 
of  Christ  bestowing  the  keys  on  St.  Peter :  a  circum- 
stance from  which  his  partisans  professed  to  draw  a 
happy  augury.  Seven  weeks  this  important  conclave 
lasted,  its  deliberations  throughout  being  marked  by  a 
surpassing  amount  of  intrigue  and  bribery.  Fiercely 
did  the  rival  supporters  of  the  Imperial  and  French 


G1ULIO   DE    MEDICI   (CLEMENT   VII) 


CLEMENS  SEPTIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS        289 

parties  struggle  to  accomplish  the  election  of  a  Pope  of 
their  own  political  views,  and  even  the  threat  of  the 
guardians  of  the  conclave  to  enforce  a  diet  of  bread  and 
water  on  the  obstinate  princes  of  the  Church  failed  to 
make  their  arguments  meet  in  one  point.  Farnese,  of 
whose  flagrant  immorality  even  that  immoral  age  had 
been  ashamed,  did  his  utmost  by  unabashed  promises  of 
payment  to  obtain  the  coveted  tiara,  and  was  almost 
successful  in  his  frantic  efforts ;  Thomas  Wolsey,  to 
whom  the  Emperor  had  once  promised  his  personal  aid, 
was  told  plainly  his  chance  was  hopeless,  since  even  if 
the  conclave  chose  him,  the  Roman  people  would  posi- 
tively refuse  to  admit  another  foreigner  within  the  city  in 
the  capacity  of  Pope ;  Medici,  meanwhile,  in  spite  of 
bitter  enmity,  never  relinquished  hope  and  kept  quietly 
but  firmly  pursuing  his  own  ends.  At  last  the  Imperial 
faction,  of  which  Medici  was  commonly  regarded  one  of 
the  leading  champions,  got  the  upper  hand,  and  with 
the  withdrawal  of  the  opposition  of  Soderini  and  the 
shameless  winning-over  of  the  turbulent  Pompeo 
Colonna,  who  was  promised  the  reversion  of  Medici's 
vice-chancellorship  and  the  possession  of  the  fine  palace 
of  old  Riario,  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici  was  enabled  to 
secure  the  requisite  number  of  votes,  with  the  result  that 
on  the  night  of  i8th  November  he  was  declared  duly 
elected.  Thus  did  Giulio  de'  Medici,  within  two  years 
from  the  date  of  his  cousin's  death  on  ist  December, 
1521,  ascend  the  papal  throne  under  the  official  title  of 
Clement  VII.  Nevertheless,  according  to  the  testimony 
of  Guicciardini,1  the  second  Medicean  Pontiff  at  first  de- 
sired to  be  known  as  Julius  III.,  but  was  dissuaded  by 
his  friends  from  thus  making  use  of  his  own  baptismal 

1  Storia  d'  Italia,  lib.  xiv. 
19 


290  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

name  ;  and  his  subsequent  choice  of  the  title  of  Clement 
has  been  variously  attributed  to  his  connection  with  the 
basilica  of  San  Clemente  (of  which  he  was  titular  car- 
dinal-priest), to  the  rapid  approach  of  St.  Clement's 
festival,  or  to  the  new  Pope's  intended  clemency  towards 
Soderini  and  other  late  opponents  in  the  conclave. 

Giulio  de'  Medici  was  in  his  forty-sixth  year  when 
he  thus  attained  to  the  highest  dignity  in  Christendom  : 
a  dignity  which  his  base  birth  in  reality  denied  him. 
His  early  history  we  have  already  discussed  at  length 
in  the  preceding  chapters,  wherein  we  have  tried  to  show 
how  closely  his  career  was  associated  with  the  fluctuating 
fortunes  of  Leo  X.  For  as  early  as  the  year  1494,  at 
the  date  of  the  Florentine  revolution  which  expelled  the 
three  sons  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  Giulio  had  at- 
tached himself  to  his  cousin,  the  Cardinal  Giovanni,  and 
had  rarely  been  separated  from  him,  either  in  good  or 
evil  plight,  until  the  day  of  the  Pope's  death ; — in  the 
phrase  of  an  unkind  critic,  Giulio  had  consistently  played 
the  humble  part  of  jackal  to  the  Medicean  lion.  The 
new  Pontiff,  in  short,  owed  e'verything  to  his  intimacy 
with  his  illustrious  kinsman,  who  was  but  two  years  his 
senior ;  from  Leo  he  had  learned  and  imbibed  all  the 
secret  aims  and  tenets  of  the  ambitious  House  of  Medici ; 
he  had  carefully  copied  his  master  in  all  matters  of  policy 
and  patronage ;  and  it  was  to  Leo's  favour  that  he  owed 
the  removal  (so  far  as  the  act  was  morally  possible)  of 
the  clinging  disgrace  of  illegitimacy,  and  had  obtained 
an  assured  position  of  wealth  and  importance  at  his 
cousin's  brilliant  court. 

Yet,  although  Giulio  de'  Medici  had  continued  the 
judicious  confidant  and  devoted  servant  of  Leo  X.  for 
nigh  upon  thirty  years,  the  dissimilarity  between  the 
cousins  had  always  been  most  striking ;  nor  was  it  by 


CLEMENS  SEPTIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS        291 

any  means  confined  to  personal  appearance.  The 
frivolity  and  keen  love  of  enjoyment  that  were  so  con- 
spicuous in  Leo  seemed  wholly  lacking  in  Clement  VII., 
whose  behaviour  was  ever  grave  and  circumspect,  and 
whose  late  share  in  the  extravagant  pursuits  of  Leo's 
court  had  been  due  to  motives  of  an  ingratiating  policy 
rather  than  to  natural  inclination.  Clement's  manner  in 
public  was  somewhat  cold  and  repellent,  which  was  per- 
haps one  of  the  many  reasons  causing  him  to  be  so  disliked 
by  his  peers  in  the  Sacred  College,  despite  his  enormous 
influence  and  his  frequent  efforts  to  propitiate  those  who 
might  possibly  be  of  service  to  him  in  the  future.  Yet 
his  edifying  and  serious  aspect,  his  reputation  for  political 
sagacity,  his  supposed  desire  for  public  economy  and  his 
strict  personal  morality  made  his  election  acceptable  both 
to  the  Emperor  and  to  Henry  VIII.  of  England,  whilst 
Francis  of  France  had  experienced  enough  of  Medicean 
diplomacy  in  the  past  to  rest  assured  that  no  Medici  was 
ever  likely  to  become  a  mere  tool  of  the  Imperial  will. 
On  the  whole,  therefore,  Clement  VII.'s  elevation,  in  spite 
of  the  scandalous  delays  in  the  late  conclave,  was  well 
received  by  the  princes  of  Europe,  whilst  it  produced 
an  outburst  of  popular  enthusiasm  in  the  city  of  Rome, 
where  all  men  "trusted  to  behold  again  a  flourishing 
court,  a  liberal  Pontiff,  and  a  revival  of  the  arts  and 
letters  which  had  been  banished  under  the  late  barbarian 
tyranny  of  Adrian,  since  it  is  the  boast  of  the  House 
of  Medici  that  it  favours  the  Muses".1  The  sober 
Guicciardini  also  extols  the  choice  of  the  conclave,  de- 
claring that  the  new  Pontiff  was  "held  in  the  highest 
reputation  throughout  all  Europe ; — indeed,  the  extra- 
ordinary delay  in  the  late  election  seemed  excusable, 

JF.  Gregorovius,  vol.  viii.,  part  ii.,  p.  457,  note  i. 


292  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

seeing  that  it  had  resulted  in  the  elevation  to  the  papal 
throne  of  a  person  of  the  greatest  power  and  capacity".1 

In  appearance,  as  in  manner,  the  new  Pope  offered 
a  strong  contrast  with  the  stout  and  genial  Leo  X. 
Clement's  figure  was  tall,  slight,  and  well  formed ;  his 
complexion  was  sallow ;  his  hair  black,  his  eyes  a  deep 
brown,  and  he  had  fine  regular  features.  He  was  more 
of  a  typical  Medici  than  his  cousin  Leo,  and  bore  a 
strong  resemblance  to  his  father,  Giuliano,  the  only 
brother  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  who  was  murdered 
in  the  Florentine  cathedral  a  month  before  his  natural 
son  was  born  to  him.2  But  although  handsome, 
Clement's  face  was  rendered  unattractive  by  reason  of 
its  disagreeable  expression  and  the  look  of  suspicion 
which  was  constantly  passing  over  it.  At  the  date  of 
his  election  the  Pontiff  was  smooth-shaven,  as  we  can 
observe  him  in  Raphael's  celebrated  portrait  of  Leo  X., 
and  in  certain  of  the  frescoes  in  the  Vatican,  for  it  was 
not  until  after  the  sack  of  Rome  in  1527,  that  Clement, 
in  sign  of  mourning  for  his  past  indignities,  allowed  his 
beard  and  moustache  to  grow  naturally,  a  change  which 
undoubtedly  added  dignity  to  the  Pope's  general  appear- 
ance. If  Julius  was  the  first  Pontiff  to  wear  a  beard, 
Clement  was  certainly  the  originator  of  the  papal 
moustache,  which  continued  in  vogue  amongst  the  Roman 
Pontiffs  for  nearly  two  centuries. 

Though  less  liberal  and  also  less  learned  than  Leo, 
Giulio  de'  Medici  owned  a  more  discerning  as  well  as  a 
more  catholic  taste  in  contemporary  art.  It  speaks  elo- 
quently for  Clement's  true  understanding  of  art  in  all  its 
varied  forms,  that  he  showed  himself  able  to  appreciate 

1  Storia  d?  Italia,  lib.  xiv. 

2  Platina,  etc.,    Vita   dementis    VIII. ;   also  Guicciardini,  Storia 
ff  Italia,  lib.  xii. ;  Creighton,  vol.  v.,  p.  224,  etc. 


CLEMENS  SEPTIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS        293 

the  exquisite  inventions  of  that  Florentine  prince  of 
jewellers,  Benvenuto  Cellini  (who  as  a  young  man  was 
then  rising  rapidly  to  fame  in  Rome),  and  likewise  the 
gigantic  productions  of  the  chisel  of  Michelangelo,  whose 
marvellous  powers  the  new  Pope,  unlike  his  late  cousin, 
always  held  in  the  highest  consideration.  Clement, 
"  who  alone  of  all  the  Medici  kept  a  just  balance  between 
the  two  rivals  who  were  disputing  the  crown  of  art,"1 
had  also  been  a  constant  patron  of  the  late  Raffaele 
Sanzio,  and  amongst  other  commissions  he  had  entrusted 
the  great  artist  of  Urbino  with  the  erection  of  a  villa  on 
the  slopes  of  Monte  Mario,  the  prominent  cypress-clad 
hill  above  the  Flaminian  Gate  of  the  city.  This  splendid 
villa,  in  the  construction  of  which  the  natural  rise  and 
fall  of  the  ground  had  been  skilfully  utilised  to  contribute 
to  the  general  effect,  would  probably  have  afforded  one 
of  the  finest  examples  of  the  florid  art  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance,  had  but  circumstances  allowed  of  its  com- 
pletion according  to  the  desire  of  the  Cardinal  and  the 
design  of  Raphael.  Its  style  of  architecture  was  com- 
posite, a  blend  of  all  that  was  excellent  in  antique  and 
contemporary  art,  whilst  the  gorgeous  decorations  of  its 
halls  and  loggia  were  even  said  to  surpass  the  efforts  of 
their  artists,  Giulio  Romano  and  Giovanni  da  Udine,  at 
the  Vatican  itself.  Unfortunately,  like  so  many  other 
ambitious  projects  of  the  Renaissance,  this  magnificent 
palace  was  never  brought  to  perfection,  and  in  the 
squalid  dilapidated  building,  to-day  called  the  Villa 
Madama,  the  stranger  wrill  only  perceive  another  of 
those  dismal  unfinished  monuments  of  extravagance  and 
ambition,  with  which  all  Italy  is  so  thickly  studded.  A 
nobler  and  more  enduring  memorial  of  Clement's  good 
taste  and  bounty  in  those  early  days  is  to  be  found  in 
1  Muntz,  p.  146. 


294  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

that  matchless  creation  of  the  divine  Raphael,  the  picture 
of  the  Transfiguration,  which  adorned  the  chamber 
of  the  dying  artist  and  was  borne  in  that  silent  pro- 
cession through  the  streets  of  Rome  to  his  honoured 
tomb  in  the  Pantheon.  For  it  was  the  Cardinal  Giulio 
de'  Medici,  who  had  expressly  commanded  this  world- 
famous  masterpiece  for  the  high  altar  of  the  cathedral- 
church  of  Narbonne,  as  a  mark  of  gratitude  for  his 
appointment  to  that  distant  bishopric.  We  can,  however, 
scarcely  blame  the  Cardinal  for  his  refusal  to  allow  this 
picture  to  quit  Rome,  when  we  consider  the  extraordinary 
beauty  of  the  composition  and  reflect  upon  the  sad  but 
hallowed  memories  attending  its  completion.  The 
picture  (finished  in  detail,  and  none  too  satisfactorily,  by 
Raphael's  pupil  Giulio  Romano)  was  placed  in  the 
Roman  church  of  San  Pietro  in  Montorio,  whilst  a  copy 
was  despatched  to  remote  Narbonne.  After  remaining 
the  pride  and  glory  of  San  Pietro  in  Montorio  for  nearly 
three  centuries,  Raphael's  masterpiece  was  removed  to 
Paris  by  the  emissaries  of  the  French  Republic  in  1798, 
and  on  its  restoration  to  the  papal  government  in  1815, 
Pius  VII.  claimed  it  for  the  Vatican  picture-gallery,  of 
which  it  has  ever  since  formed  the  chief  ornament. 

With  the  election  of  Giulio  de'  Medici  in  November, 
1523,  the  Vatican,  which  had  remained  silent  and  half- 
deserted  for  the  past  two  years,  once  more  began  to  re- 
sume its  normal  aspect  of  intrigue  and  pleasure.  That 
corrupt  and  still  unended  pageant  of  the  Leonine  Age, 
which  the  first  Medicean  Pope  inaugurated,  had  indeed 
been  scarcely  suspended  anywhere  in  the  city  of  Rome 
save  in  the  Apostolic  palace  itself,  where  the  unhappy 
and  despised  Adrian  was  living  frugally  on  a  ducat  a 
day  and  was  being  served  by  a  Flemish  crone,  who  did 
duty  for  the  swarm  of  valets,  lacqueys  and  grooms  whose 


CLEMENS  SEPTIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS        295 

presence  the  Magnificent  Leo  had  considered  indispens- 
able. But  the  gloom  and  torpor  that  had  fallen  on  the 
Vatican  since  Leo's  death  had  in  no  wise  interrupted 
the  follies  or  vices  of  Rome  at  large.  Cardinals  and 

o 

prelates  of  the  court  hunted,  feasted,  made  music,  jested, 
entertained,  led  immoral  lives,  and  in  short  openly  set 
at  defiance  the  commands  and  threats  of  their  foreign 
master,  whose  exhortation  to  virtue  was  heard  unheeded 
in  this  ecclesiastical  desert  of  pride  and  luxury.  With 
the  Vatican  once  more  the  acknowledged  seat  of  artistic 
patronage  and  with  a  second  Medici  on  the  papal  throne, 
Rome  was  herself  again,  and  was  prepared  to  forget  the 
brief  and  ineffectual  interlude  of  a  barbarian  pontificate. 
Foremost  of  the  signs  of  resumed  activity  at  the 
Vatican  was  the  renewal  of  the  progress  of  building  and 
decorating  the  palace,  which  had  been  abruptly  aban- 
doned under  the  pedantic  Adrian  with  his  utter  ignorance 
of  modern  art  and  his  pious  horror  of  all  pagan  culture. 
Loud  indeed  was  the  outburst  of  relief  from  the  artists 
of  Rome,  who  "  were  all  during  the  reign  of  Adrian  but 
little  better  than  dying  of  hunger,"  so  Vasari  informs  us 
in  exaggerated  language.  "  On  that  very  day,"  proceeds 
the  Plutarch  of  Italian  painters,  "of  Pope  Clement's 
election,  the  arts  of  design  together  with  all  the  other 
arts,  were  recalled  to  new  life,  and  Giulio  Romano  and 
Gian-Francesco  Penni  set  themselves  joyfully  to  work 
by  command  of  the  Pontiff,  to  finish  the  Hall  of  Constan- 
tine,"1  the  fourth  and  most  spacious  chamber  of  the  suite 
of  the  Stanze  di  Raffaelo.2  Here,  on  the  wall  facing  the 
windows,  Giulio  Romano  painted  the  animated  battle- 
piece,  the  Triumph  of  the  Emperor  Constantine  over  the 
infidel  Maxentius,  an  immense  composition  crowded  with 
Christian  and  pagan  warriors  and  with  many  horses, 
1  Vita  di  Giulio  Romano.  2  See  chapter  ix. 


296  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

which  in  spite  of  the  harshness  of  its  colouring  is  a 
splendid  performance  of  the  painter,  who  has  throughout 
followed  closely  the  details  of  the  original  cartoon  from 
the  hand  of  his  dead  master,  Raphael.  In  the  adjoining 
fresco,  the  Vision  of  the  Cross  to  Constantine,  it  is  only 
too  evident  that  Giulio  Romano  has  deviated  both  from 
the  spirit  and  the  design  of  the  original  cartoon,  whilst 
the  introduction  into  so  solemn  a  subject  of  the  repulsive 
Gradasso  da  Norcia,  the  hideous  dwarf  from  the  house- 
hold of  Ippolito  de'  Medici,  constitutes  a  flagrant  outrage 
against  good  taste.  Opposite  this  work,  appears  the 
Baptism  of  Constantine,  with  its  valuable  representation 
of  the  ancient  baptistery  of  the  Lateran  in  the  days  of 
the  second  Medicean  Pope  and  its  portrait  of  Clement 
himself  officiating  in  the  guise  of  Pope  Sylvester.  Last 
of  all  in  artistic  merit  but  of  special  interest  as  presenting 
us  with  an  admirable  view  of  the  interior  of  old  St.  Peter's 
with  its  pillared  nave,  its  tribune  and  its  crude  mosaics, 
is  the  fourth  fresco  of  this  hall,  which,  being  the  latest 
of  all  in  date,  exhibits  St.  Sylvester  as  Clement  VII., 
grown  older  and  bearded,  seated  in  state  to  receive  the 
donation  of  Rome  for  himself  and  his  successors  from 
the  hand  of  Constantine,  who  in  solemn  assertion  of  his 
good  faith  offers  the  Pontiff  the  bronze  statue  of  a  warrior. 
Numerous  auxiliary  figures  have  been  introduced  into 
this  picture ;  courtiers,  children,  women,  beggars,  the 
Grand  Master  of  Rhodes,  and  even  soldiers  of  the 
Swiss  Guard,  who  keep  the  populace  at  a  respectful  dis- 
tance with  their  halberds.  The  frescoes  of  the  Stanza 
di  Costantino,  though  artistically  on  a  far  lower  level 
than  those  of  the  other  three  halls,  form  an  interesting 
historical  link  with  the  disastrous  pontificate  of  Clement 
VII.,  who  tried  conscientiously  to  complete  the  splendid 
series  of  frescoes,  emblematic  of  the  secular  Papacy,  that 


CLEMENS  SEPTIMUS  POXTIFEX  MAXIMUS        297 

Julius  II.  had  commenced  and  Leo  X.  had  continued; 
it  was  the  fault  of  Raphael's  pupils  and  not  of  the  Medici 
that  the  decorations  of  the  last  hall  of  the  official  suite, 
intended  to  idealise  the  origin  of  the  temporal  power  of 
the  Papacy,  should  have  proved  so  inferior  to  Raphael's 
own  creations  in  the  adjoining  chambers. 

Everywhere  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Hall  of  Con- 
stantine  are  visible  the  heraldic  achievements  of  the  luck- 
less Clement,  notably  in  the  pair  of  splendid  carved 
portals  that  give  on  the  Loggia  of  Raphael.  And  in  the 
panels  of  these  doors  the  curious  may  observe  the  strange 
emblem  or  impresa  adopted  by  Clement  VII.,  which  re- 
presents the  rays  of  the  sun  in  full  splendour  falling  on  a 
crystal  globe,  that  stands  on  a  pedestal  marked  with  the 
words  Candor  Illaesus,  and  passing  thence  so  as  to  set 
fire  to  a  tree  in  full  leaf.  According  to  Paolo  Giovio, 
this  enigmatic  piece  of  heraldry  was  the  invention  of  a 
certain  Domenico  Buoninsegni  of  Florence,  treasurer  to 
Clement  VII.,  shortly  before  the  date  of  his  master's 
election  in  1523,  who  strove  to  show  to  the  world  thereby 
Clement's  earnest  sincerity  and  candour  of  mind,  which 
were  so  great  as  to  render  their  owner  proof  against  the 
manifold  slanders  and  plots  of  his  enemies.  This  quaint 
device  seems  to  have  commended  itself  to  the  Pope,  then 
Cardinal,  although  in  the  whole  roll  of  history  it  would 
be  hard  to  discover  any  sovereign  to  whom  the  epithet 
of  "candid"  might  be  applied  with  less  reason  than  to 
this  Medicean  disciple  of  the  tortuous  and  uncandid 
principles  laid  down  by  Machiavelli.1 

Of  the  various  artists  patronised  by  Clement  VII., 
"  whose  election  proved  to  be  a  great  and  much-needed 
restoration  and  refreshment  to  the  arts  of  painting  and 

1  Geronimo  Ruscelli,  Le  Impress  illustri.  In  Venetia,  1572,  pp. 
40,  41. 


298  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

sculpture,"1  perhaps  the  account  left  by  Benvenuto 
Cellini  of  his  own  relations  with  Clement  is  the  most 
valuable,  as  affording  us  an  insight  not  only  into  the 
artistic  notions  of  his  papal  patron,  but  also  into  his 
disposition  and  mode  of  life.  For  the  Pontiff  seems  to 
have  formed  a  close  friendship  with  Cellini,  then  twenty- 
six  years  of  age,  during  the  awful  siege  of  the  castle  of 
Sant'  Angelo,  and  the  intimacy  begun  under  these  baleful 
conditions  was  resumed  in  happier  days,  on  Clement's  re- 
turn to  Rome  after  his  coronation  of  the  Emperor  at 
Bologna.  This  strange  adherent  of  the  House  of 
Medici — exquisite  jeweller,  vulgar  braggart,  plebeian 
roysterer  and  author  of  one  of  the  most  valuable  human 
documents  concerning  the  social  life  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance — has  presented  us  in  his  immortal  Autobio- 
graphy with  a  mass  of  artless  details  concerning  Clement, 
and  has  recorded  in  these  pages  a  number  of  strange 
conversations  between  himself  and  the  Pope,  which 
though  highly  entertaining  in  themselves,  cannot  possibly 
be  accounted  veracious,  for  they  are  in  reality  but  stray 
reminiscences  of  events  put  down  on  paper  some  twenty 
or  thirty  years  after  their  actual  occurrence. 

Rome,  at  the  date  of  Cellini's  arrival  thither  in  1523, 
was  still  the  undisputed  centre  of  the  intellectual  and 
artistic  world,  and  Clement's  election  set  the  seal  on  its 
universal  reputation.  As  a  master- workman,  whose  fame 
had  already  preceded  him  in  Rome,  Cellini  had  received 
from  Clement  a  cordial  welcome,  the  warmth  of  which 
was  doubtless  enhanced  by  the  Pope's  knowledge  of 
the  firm  political  sympathies  of  the  lowly  Cellini  family 
with  the  lofty  House  of  Medici.  With  the  early  secur- 
ing of  the  papal  patronage,  commissions  of  every  kind  at 
once  began  to  pour  down  upon  the  conceited  but  talented 

1  Vasari,  Vita  di  Pierino  del  Vaga. 


CLEMENS  SEPTIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS        299 

Florentine  youth,  who  ere  long  came  to  be  acknowledged 
as  the  prince  of  his  profession. 

"  No  labour  seemed  too  minute,  no  metal  was  too 
mean  for  the  exercise  of  the  master- workman's  skill,  nor 
did  he  run  the  risk  of  becoming  one  of  those  half- 
amateurs  in  whom  accomplishment  falls  short  on  first 
conception.  Art  ennobled  for  him  all  that  he  was  called 
to  do.  Whether  cardinals  required  him  to  fashion  silver 
vases  for  their  banquet-tables ;  or  ladies  wished  the 
setting  of  their  jewels  altered  ;  or  a  Pope  wanted  the 
enamelled  binding  of  a  book  of  prayers  ;  or  men-at-arms 
sent  sword-blades  to  be  damaskened  with  acanthus 
foliage ;  or  kings  desired  fountains  and  statues  for  their 
palace-courts ;  or  poets  begged  to  have  their  portraits 
cast  in  bronze ;  or  generals  needed  medals  to  com- 
memorate their  victories,  or  dukes  new  coins  for  the 
mint ;  or  bishops  ordered  reliquaries  for  the  altars  of 
their  patron-saints ;  or  merchants  sought  for  seals  and 
signet-rings  engraved  with  their  device  ;  or  men  of  fashion 
asked  for  medals  of  Leda  and  Adonis  to  fasten  in  their 
caps — all  these  commissions  would  be  undertaken  by  a 
workman  like  Cellini."1 

These  early  years  in  Rome  were  probably  the 
happiest  and  most  prosperous  in  all  Cellini's  career. 
Assured  of  the  Pope's  sympathy  in  his  work,  and  later 
drawing  a  good  salary  as  master  of  the  papal  mint, 
Benvenuto  moved  as  a  figure  of  no  little  importance  in 
that  brilliant  if  corrupt  pageant  of  the  closing  years  of 
the  Leonine  Age.  For  society  he  enjoyed  the  intimate 
friendship  of  his  own  revered  Michelangelo,  of  the 
painter  Giulio  Romano,  and  of  such  of  the  leading  artists 
of  the  day  as  he  did  not  choose  to  offend.  For  his 
amusements  there  were  the  eternal  feasting,  intriguing 

1 J.  A.  Symonds,  Renaissance  in  Italy. 


3oo  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

and  brawling  of  the  time,  whilst  for  his  health's  sake 
Benvenuto  was  wont  to  go  daily  outside  the  city  walls 
with  his  fowling-piece  and  a  well-trained  shock-dog  in 
quest  of  game  on  the  Roman  Campagna,  or  else  to 
sketch  the  neglected  remains  of  classical  Rome,  lighten- 
ing his  task  of  drawing  by  occasionally  shooting  at  the 
flocks  of  pigeons  which  these  ivy-clad  ruins  sheltered. 

But  this  pleasant  existence  of  mingled  work  and  re- 
creation received  a  rude  shock  in  the  capture  and  sack 
of  Rome  by  the  lawless  troops  of  the  Constable  of 
Bourbon  in  the  spring  of  1527.  During  the  fearful 
siege  of  the  castle  of  Sant'  Angelo,  Cellini  gladly  gave 
his  services  to  his  unfortunate  patron,  to  whom  he  seems 
to  have  borne  as  genuine  an  attachment  as  his  conceited 
and  selfish  nature  would  permit.  We  shall  speak  in  the 
following  chapter  of  Cellini's  vaunted  exploits  in  the  be- 
leaguered citadel  of  Rome,  but  one  curious  incident  it  is 
more  suitable  to  mention  in  this  place.  It  seems  that  at 
Clement's  special  request,  Cellini  undertook  to  break  up 
the  papal  crown-jewels,  to  extract  their  gems  and  to 
melt  down  their  component  gold,  a  delicate  operation,  for 
which  Benvenuto's  unique  skill  in  his  profession  and  un- 
doubted honesty  rendered  his  assistance  of  extreme 
value  in  such  an  emergency.  This  signal  service  to 
the  Medici  was,  however,  destined  to  bring  unmerited 
evil  on  the  head  of  the  artist  in  after  years  under  the  rule 
of  the  terrible  Farnese  Pope,  Paul  III.,  whose  mean 
suspicious  nature  could  not  conceive  of  any  artist  having 
undertaken  such  a  task,  without  the  determination  to  rob 
his  employer  of  part  at  least  of  the  stones  and  gold  en- 
trusted to  his  care  and  honour.1 

Ever  a  faithful  adherent  of  the  Medici,  Benvenuto 
openly  preferred  to  return  to  Rome  in  the  train  of 

1  Vita  di  B.  Cellini. 


CLEMENS  SEPTIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS        301 

Clement  rather  than  to  assist  in  the  defence  of  his  native 
Florence,  which  had  in  the  meantime  shaken  off  the 
Medicean  yoke.  During  the  years  1530-1534,  Clement 
was  undoubtedly  the  artist's  best  patron,  and  in  the  racy 
narrative  of  the  jeweller-author's  own  Autobiography 
we  are  given  many  instances  of  the  Pope's  vary- 
ing moods.  For  during  these  four  years  the  artist  was 
in  constant  attendance  at  the  Vatican,  where  he  was 
sometimes  flattered,  sometimes  soundly  rated  by  His 
Holiness,  according  as  a  friendly  or  unfriendly  courtier 
had  previous  access  to  the  papal  ear,  for  the  perplexed 
Pontiff  was  ever  a  prey  to  some  temporary  influence. 
Nevertheless,  despite  innumerable  quarrels  between 
patron  and  artist,  Cellini  executed  many  commissions  for 
Clement,  besides  designing  and  striking  those  beautiful 
papal  medals,  which  even  in  the  fastidious  Pope's  opinion 
surpassed  the  finest  specimens  of  the  coins  of  antiquity. 
These  medals  distinguished  by  Clement's  handsome  profile 
survive  as  prized  possessions  in  many  a  cabinet  to-day  ; 
but  what  has  become,  we  wonder,  of  those  superb  if 
trivial  masterpieces  with  which  Cellini's  deft  fingers  and 
keen-sighted  eyes  contrived  to  delight  the  art-loving 
Medici?  Where  is  that  golden  brooch  to  fasten  the 
pontifical  cope,  "the  size  of  a  small  trencher,  one-third 
of  a  cubit  wide,"  with  its  design  of  the  Almighty  sur- 
rounded by  cherubim  and  seated  on  a  glowing  orb, 
which  was  to  have  been  formed  by  the  finest  diamond 
in  the  papal  treasury  ?  Where  is  that  ornate  chalice,  the 
apple  of  its  artificer's  eye,  that  in  its  unfinished  state  had 
been  contemptuously  referred  to  as  una  cipollata,  "a 
mess  of  onions,"  by  the  supercilious  Cardinal  Salviati : 
an  insult  the  vindictive  genius  never  forgave  ?  Or  the 
model  for  the  setting  of  "  an  unicorn's  horn  " — or  rather 
the  fine  narwhal's  tusk,  a  curio  that  cost  the  impoverished 


302  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

treasury  17,000  ducats — with  which  Clement  was  anxious 
to  propitiate  the  King  of  France  at  the  approaching 
marriage  of  the  little  Caterina  de'  Medici  with  the  second 
son  of  Francis  ?  All  have  perished ;  so  that  the  most 
enduring  memorial  of  Clement's  patronage  of  Cellini  is 
to  be  found  in  those  chapters  of  the  artist's  Autobiography ',l 
which  describe  from  his  own  point  of  view  the  numerous 
colloquies  and  misunderstandings  between  the  two  men 
placed  in  such  widely  separated  spheres  of  life.  Were 
both  Pope  and  artist  living  at  this  moment,  each  would 
express  an  equal  surprise  at  this  circumstance,  for  little 
did  that  gifted  but  self-satisfied  master-workman  suspect, 
as  in  his  declining  years  he  jotted  down  his  pungent 
reminiscences  of  the  great,  that  the  fame  of  these  care- 
lessly dictated  memoirs  was  destined  to  outweigh  in 
the  eyes  of  future  generations  the  value  of  his  statues,  his 
coins,  and  his  elaborate  designs  for  plate  and  jewellery. 

We  have  already  made  allusion  to  Clement's  un- 
bounded admiration  of  the  talents  of  Michelangelo,  whom 
as  Cardinal  de'  Medici  he  had  been  wont  to  address  with 
the  deepest  courtesy  as  Spectabilis  Vir,  amice  noster 
chiarissime.  And  immediately  upon  his  election  it  is  not 
strange  that  the  Pope  decided  to  engage  the  services  of 
the  master  for  the  completion  of  a  Medicean  mausoleum 
adjoining  the  church  of  San  Lorenzo  in  Florence,  a  pro- 
ject that  was  evidently  very  dear  to  the  heart  of  this 
bastard  of  the  Medici,  now  risen  to  be  Supreme  Pontiff. 
Together  with  the  proposed  mausoleum  was  included  a 
commission  for  the  erection  of  a  library  hard  by,  suitable 
to  contain  the  splendid  collection  of  books  and  manu- 
scripts of  Leo  X.,  which  was  now  the  property  of  his  heir. 
"Thou  art  aware,"  writes  Clement  in  an  autograph  note 
to  a  formal  letter  of  instruction  from  his  secretary,  "that 

1  Vita  di  B.  Celhni. 


CLEMENS  SEPTIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS       303 

Popes  are  short-lived,  and  we  are  all  eagerness  to  behold 
the  chapel  with  the  monuments  of  our  race,  or  at  least 
to  learn  of  its  completion.  So  also  with  the  library. 
Therefore  we  rely  on  thy  diligence  in  both  our  commands. 
Be  assured  that  commissions  and  rewards  will  never  be 
lacking  during  our  lifetime.  Farewell,  with  the  benedic- 
tion of  God  and  ourselves.  Julius."  l 

With  such  a  proof  of  Clement's  earnest  anxiety,  the 
master  set  to  work  with  zest  upon  the  domed  mausoleum 
of  the  Medici,  commonly  called  the  New  Sacristy  of  San 
Lorenzo,  in  contrast  with  the  existing  old  Sacristy  of 
Brunelleschi  near  the  southern  transept  of  the  basilica. 
The  original  intention  both  of  Pope  and  artist  seems  to 
have  been  the  erection  of  four  vast  and  overladen 
sepulchral  monuments  covered  with  allegorical  figures 
in  commemoration  of  Giuliano  the  Good,  Lorenzo  Duke 
of  Urbino,  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  and  Giuliano  his 
brother,  the  two  last  being  the  parents  respectively  of 
Leo  X.  and  Clement  VII.  Other  accounts  credit 
Clement  with  the  desire  of  a  splendid  tomb  to  be  raised 
to  himself  in  his  lifetime.  Eventually,  as  we  know,  only 
the  tombs  of  the  two  former  princes  were  ever  erected. 

Within  a  year  the  shell  of  the  fabric  was  finished, 
and  was  ready  to  receive  the  elaborate  masses  of  statuary 
and  sepulchral  architecture,  on  which  the  master  was 
now  lavishing  his  genius.  Early  in  1526  the  foundations 
of  the  Laurentian  Library  also  were  laid,  whilst  its 
necessary  fittings  and  decorations  were  being  prepared 
by  a  number  of  skilled  craftsmen,  prominent  amongst 
them  being  the  celebrated  Giovanni  da  Udine  who  was 
likewise  instructed  to  adorn  in  fresco  the  cupola  of  the 
Sacristy.  It  was  about  this  time  also  that  Clement,  who 

1 J.  A.  Symonds,  Life  of  Michelangelo,  vol.  i,,  p.  397.  Clement 
VII.  signs  with  his  baptismal  name  in  this  letter,  dated  April,  1525. 


3o4  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

from  a  distance  was  taking  the  liveliest  interest  in  the 
progress  of  these  operations  at  San  Lorenzo,  sent  to 
Michelangelo  an  extraordinary  proposal  to  erect  a  colossal 
figure  of  forty  cubits'  stature  in  the  piazza  before  the 
church,  apparently  on  the  very  spot  now  occupied  by  the 
mediocre  effigy  of  the  father  of  the  first  Tuscan  Grand- 
Duke,  the  famous  Giovanni  of  the  Black  Bands.  This 
extravagant  and  tasteless  suggestion,  although  emanating 
directly  from  the  Pope,  was  savagely  opposed  by  Michel- 
angelo in  a  letter  filled  with  most  insolent  sarcasm,  com- 
bined with  the  elephantine  humour  in  which  the  master 
occasionally  indulged.1  The  contemptuous  remarks  con- 
tained in  this  communication  could  not  have  failed  to 
give  offence  to  the  Pope,  had  its  contents  been  brought 
to  his  notice  by  some  mischief-making  person  (as  indeed 
may  actually  have  happened).  Yet  Clement  seems  to 
have  paid  no  attention  to  the  rude  jests  of  this  privileged 
man  of  genius',  for  the  scheme  was  immediately  dropped 
and  we  hear  no  more  of  it.  But  one  cannot  help  specu- 
lating on  what  the  violent  Julius  II.  or  the  particular  Leo 
X.  would  have  said  or  done,  on  hearing  such  personal 
ridicule  from  any  architect  accepting  their  pay. 

Owing  to  the  Florentine  revolution  of  1527  and  the 
subsequent  downfall  of  Medicean  rule,  the  work  at  San 
Lorenzo  was  of  necessity  suspended,  whilst  Michelangelo 
was  set  to  labour  on  another  and  a  nobler  task,  that  of 
raising  the  fortifications  at  San  Miniato  in  order  to  pro- 
tect his  native  city  from  the  assailing  army  of  the  Prince 
of  Orange.  With  the  recapture  and  thraldom  of  the 
revolted  city,  the  great  artist,  whose  earnest  efforts  on 
behalf  of  the  short-lived  Florentine  Republic  were  well 
known  to  the  now-detested  Clement,  was  forced  to  lie 
awhile  in  hiding.  But  it  was  not  long  ere  the  Pope, 

1 J.  A.  Symonds,  Life  of  Michelangelo,  vol.  i.,  pp.  400,  401. 


CLEMENS  SEPTIMUS  PONTIFEX  MAXIMUS       305 

whose  intense  anxiety  to  finish  worthily  his  chapel  and 
library  at  San  Lorenzo  evidently  outweighed  any  sup- 
posed thirst  for  vengeance  on  his  architect,  offered  of  his 
own  motion  free  pardon  and  grace  to  the  patriotic  master, 
who  was  thus  once  more  recalled  to  resume  his  interrupted 
commission  of  glorifying  the  triumphant  House  of  Medici. 
"Michelangelo,"  remarks  his  biographer  Condivi,  "now 
came  forth  from  his  place  of  concealment,  and  took  up 
again  his  work  on  the  statues  in  the  Sacristy  of  San 
Lorenzo,  being  moved  thereto  more  by  fear  of  the  Pope 
than  by  love  for  the  Medici."1  Yet  if  the  artist  himself 
were  sore  in  spirit,  he  seems  in  no  wise  to  have  forfeited 
Clement's  favour,  for  in  one  of  the  letters  of  his  chief 
friend  and  gossip  in  Rome,  Sebastiano  del  Piombo  (who 
also  accepted  the  bounty  of  Clement  VII.),  that  dis- 
tinguished painter  implores  Michelangelo  to  lay  aside  all 
resentment  against  the  Pope,  "who  speaks  of  you  in 
such  honourable  and  affectionate  terms,  that  no  parent 
could  praise  a  son  more  highly.  It  is  true  he  has  been 
annoyed  by  whisperings  as  to  your  conduct  during  the 
late  siege  of  Florence,  but  he  shrugs  his  shoulders  and 
only  remarks,  Michelangelo  is  mistaken,  for  I  never  did 
him  any  wrong:"2 

Thus  for  nearly  four  years  did  Michelangelo  toil  with 
a  heavy  heart  at  his  uncongenial  task  at  San  Lorenzo, 
but  on  the  Pope's  death  in  1534  the  work  ceased  ab- 
ruptly, nor  was  it  ever  resumed,  though  the  Grand-Duke 
Cosimo  I.  tried  later  to  persuade  the  master  to  achieve 
the  original  design.  The  result  of  Clement's  premature 
decease  and  of  his  artist's  consequent  escape  from  an 
irksome  duty  is  therefore  that  to-day  we  possess  only  the 
chilly  vaulted  apartment  of  perfect  proportions  covered 

1 J.  A.  Symonds,  Life  of  Michelangelo,  vol.  i.,  p.  438. 
2 /#</.,  vol.  i.,  p.  348. 

20 


306  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

with  meaningless  niches,  cornices  and  brackets,  which 
cry  aloud  for  their  intended  pieces  of  statuary ;  and  dis- 
figured by  the  blank  wall-spaces  which  were  meant  to 
glow  with  frescoes  from  the  master's  own  hand  or  with 
graceful  arabesques  from  the  brush  of  Giovanni  da 
Udine.  A  first  inspection  of  this  famous  building  with 
its  white- washed  walls  and  its  abundance '  of  the  sad- 
coloured  pietra  serena,  the  grey  stone  which  renders 
gloomy  so  many  of  the  finest  edifices  of  Florence,  strikes 
a  chill,  moral  as  well  as  physical,  in  the  traveller,  who 
probably  experiences  a  sense  of  disappointment  that  he 
dares  not  openly  express  on  his  first  acquaintance  with 
the  New  Sacristy  of  San  Lorenzo.  Of  its  two  completed 
sepulchral  monuments  to  Giuliano  and  Lorenzo  de' 
Medici  we  have  already  spoken,  and  therefore  shall  re- 
frain from  adding  another  word  of  praise  or  criticism 
concerning  that  which  has  given  rise  to  endless  specula- 
tion and  poetical  rhapsody  from  generations  of  artists 
and  authors.  To  the  passing  stranger  we  offer  but  this 
humble  suggestion :  that  in  fairness  to  the  execrated 
memory  of  Clement  VII.  he  should  bear  in  mind  that  to 
this  hated  Pontiff  is  due  the  erection  of  this  drear  but 
splendid  sanctuary  of  art,  which  has  drawn  hither  for 
nearly  four  centuries  so  many  pilgrims  of  every  race  and 
from  every  clime. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  SACK  OF  ROME 

Alas,  how  many  a  courtier,  how  many  a  high-born  and  delicately 
nurtured  noble,  how  many  a  gracious  prelate,  how  many  a  pious  nun, 
how  many  a  virgin,  how  many  a  stately  matron  with  all  her  infants 
fell  a  prey  to  those  cruel  Barbarians !  Think  of  the  chalices,  the 
crosses  and  the  images ;  think  of  the  goodly  vases  of  gold  or  silver 
that  were  snatched  by  bloody  and  sacrilegious  hands  from  the  altars 
and  holy  places  where  they  were  wont  to  repose !  Alas,  for  the  fate 
of  those  marvellous  and  venerable  Relics,  which  were  first  robbed  of 
their  coverings  of  precious  metal,  and  then  flung  to  earth  by  murder- 
stained  hands  in  insult  to  our  Faith !  The  sacred  heads  of  the 
holy  Apostles  Peter,  Paul  and  Andrew,  the  Wood  of  the  True  Cross, 
the  Crown  of  Thorns,  the  Holy  Oils,  and  even  the  consecrated  Hosts, 
all  trodden  underfoot  by  those  remorseless  Barbarians !  (L.  Guicciar- 
dini,  //  Sacco  di  Roma). 

A  THOUGH  reckoned  at  the  time  of  the  con- 
clave one  of  the  Emperor's  most  ardent  sup- 
porters, it  was  not  long  before  Clement  took 
up  the  threads  of  the  old  Medicean  policy  of  vacillating 
between  King  and  Caesar,  and  of  trying  to  turn  every 
chance  to  the  private  advantage  of  the  House  of  Medici. 
By  constant  shuffling,  intriguing  and  deceiving,  the 
Pontiff  proceeded  to  an  open  rupture  with  Charles  V. 
and  to  a  close  alliance  with  Francis  of  France,  until  in 
1525  the  startling  news  of  the  decisive  victory  of  Pavia 
burst  like  a  thunder-clap  over  Rome  and  the  Papal 
court.  "On  the  26th  day  of  February  about  four 
o'clock  in  the  evening  were  brought  tidings  to  the  Pope 
that  the  army  of  the  King  of  France  had  been  worsted 

307 


308  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

by  the  army  of  the  Emperor  and  the  Duke  of  Milan, 
and  that  King  Francis  was  actually  taken  prisoner. 
The  whole  of  that  night  the  Spanish  residents  of  Rome 
paraded  the  streets,  applauding  the  victory  and  celebrat- 
ing it  with  bonfires  and  explosions  of  mortars.  .  .  .  And 
on  the  final  day  of  February  a  messenger  arrived  in  the 
city,  who  confirmed  the  report  of  the  capture  of  the  king, 
of  the  destruction  of  his  army,  and  of  the  slaughter  of 
numbers  of  the  nobles  of  France."1 

Yet  even  this  absolute  upheaval  of  the  European 
balance  of  power,  on  which  the  Pope  had  been  so  art- 
fully calculating,  proved  insufficient  to  teach  wisdom  to 
the  secretive  Clement,  who  unlike  Leo,  never  recognised 
the  right  moment  to  yield,  or  at  least  to  pretend  to  yield, 
with  a  good  grace.  However  disagreeable  and  humiliat- 
ing his  position  may  have  appeared  after  the  battle  of 
Pavia,  it  was  obviously  Clement's  only  chance  to  im- 
plore the  pardon  of  the  irate  Charles  and  to  seek  his 
protection  for  Florence  and  the  Holy  See.  Yet  al- 
though the  Emperor  had  been  made  all-powerful  beyond 
the  shadow  of  a  doubt  since  the  fatal  day  of  Pavia,  we 
find  the  infatuated  Clement  in  the  following  year  actually 
at  the  head  of  a  League,  composed  of  the  independent 
.Italian  states  in  conjunction  with  the  broken  realm  of 
France  and  the  distant  kingdom  of  England,  for  the 
avowed  purpose  of  driving  the  victorious  Spanish  arms 
out  of  Italy.  Thus  by  this  irrevocable  act  of  folly  un- 
speakable was  the  true  aim  of  Medicean  statecraft 
revealed.  The  army  of  the  League  under  the  command 
of  the  treacherous  Francesco-Maria,  Delia  Rovere, 
Duke  of  Urbino,  who  must  have  hated  the  House  of 
Medici  after  his  treatment  by  Leo  X.,  now  advanced 
into  Lombardy,  where  that  renegade  prince,  the  cele- 

1Creighton,  vol.  vi.     Diary  of  Blasius  de  Martimllis,  p.  380. 


CLEMENT   VII    AND   THE    EMPEROR   CHARLES   V 


THE  SACK  OF  ROME  309 

brated  Constable  of  Bourbon,  was  holding  the  unhappy 
city  of  Milan  in  the  name  of  his  present  master,  Charles 
V.  In  the  autumn  of  this  very  year  moreover  the  Pope 
received  yet  another  warning  against  the  terrible  doom 
his  rashness  and  duplicity  were  preparing  for  his  House, 
for  the  Papacy,  and  indeed  for  all  Italy.  For  in  Septem- 
ber, 1526,  the  irrepressible  Cardinal  Pompeo  Colonna, 
with  the  followers  of  that  great  feudal  House,  suddenly 
swooped  down  upon  Rome  with  the  connivance  of  the 
Imperial  envoy,  the  unscrupulous  Moncada,  and  invaded 
the  defenceless  suburb  lying  round  St.  Peter's.  The 
open  indifference  of  the  Roman  people,  whose  sympathy 
Clement  had  contrived  to  alienate,  and  the  cowardly 
indecision  of  the  Pontiff  himself,  allowed  the  angry 
Colonna,  the  self-styled  deliverer  of  Rome  from  papal 
tyranny,  to  pillage  the  Apostolic  palace,  which  the  Pope 
had  ignominiously  abandoned  for  the  security  of  the 
castle  of  Sant'  Angelo.  In  an  agony  of  distress, 
Clement  at  once  applied  to  Moncada,  who  assisted  the 
Pope  to  escape  from  his  undignified  position,  by  patching 
up  a  treaty  wherein  Clement  swore  faithfully  to  secede 
from  the  League  and  also  to  pardon  the  Colonna  for 
this  late  exploit. 

But  Clement,  "the  very  sport  of  misfortune,"  never 
made  a  promise  but  to  break  it  at  the  earliest  opportunity. 
In  November  of  the  same  year  the  papal  troops  were 
unexpectedly  despatched  into  the  plains  and  mountains 
of  the  Roman  State,  to  storm  and  raze  the  strongholds 
of  the  unsuspecting  Colonna,  when  defenceless  tenants 
and  contadini  of  this  House  were  treated  with  a  measure 
of  cruelty  which  would  have  put  the  Turk  to  shame ; 
whilst  the  Cardinal  Pompeo  and  every  member  of  his 
family  we^e  formally  deprived  of  all  their  titles  and 
declared  outlaws.  That  such  an  act  of  treachery  and 


3io  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

insolence  was  caused  by  abject  fear  rather  than  by 
wanton  aggression  cannot  excuse  Clement's  conduct, 
and  it  is  not  hard  to  understand  the  position  subsequently 
assumed  by  the  Emperor,  thus  openly  cheated  and 
flouted,  towards  a  Pope  whose  election  had  been  mainly 
secured  by  Imperial  influence. 

But  retribution  was  very  near  at  hand.  On  ist 
December,  the  Imperial  viceroy  of  Naples,  Lannoy, 
reached  Gaeta  with  a  large  force  by  sea,  and  he  was 
immediately  joined  on  his  landing  by  the  infuriated 
Cardinal  Colonna,  burning  with  vengeance  against  the 
perfidious  Medici.  Bad,  however,  as  was  this  piece  of 
news,  the  reports  from  the  north  of  Italy  were  even  more 
calculated  to  alarm  the  guilty  Pope.  For  during  the 
autumn  months  the  famous  veteran  George  von  Frunds- 
berg  had  been  collecting  an  army  of  Landsknechts  to 
march  under  his  banner  into  Italy,  to  subdue  and  even 
to  punish  with  death  the  perjured  enemy  of  the  Emperor. 
These  Landsknechts  were  volunteer  foot-soldiers,  drawn 
from  the  sturdy  peasantry  of  the  Franconian  plains  or  from 
the  mountains  of  Bavaria.  A  large  proportion  of  them 
were  confessedly  Lutherans,  filled  with  the  anti-papal 
sentiments  of  their  religious  leader,  so  that  the  prospect 
of  hanging  Anti-Christ  in  the  person  of  Clement  and  the 
expected  plunder  of  the  richest  city  in  Europe  appealed 
to  their  minds  with  almost  equal  force.  Crossing  the 
Alps  amid  fearful  storms  of  rain  and  snow,  and  sur- 
mounting precipitous  passes  where  the  aged  and  corpulent 
Frundsberg  had  to  be  pushed  or  carried  by  his  men,  this 
picked  body  of  German  adventurers  finally  reached  the 
neighbourhood  of  Brescia,  almost  at  the  precise  moment 
of  Clement's  treacherous  raid  upon  the  castles  of  the 
Colonna.  It  is  easy  to  comprehend  the  consternation  of 
the  Pope  and  the  Roman  court,  when  it  was  realised  in 


THE  SACK  OF  ROME  3n 

Rome  that  Frundsberg  and  his  Protestant  myrmidons 
had  actually  gained  the  plain  of  Lombardy  and  that  the 
viceroy  Lannoy's  Spanish  fleet  was  riding  safe  in  the 
roads  of  Gaeta.  "We  are  on  the  brink  of  ruin!"  was 
the  only  too  prophetic  utterance  of  Clement's  patriotic 
but  headstrong  secretary,  Gian-Matteo  Giberti,  whose 
advice  was  ever  in  strong  conflict  with  the  Pope's  other 
favourite  counsellor,  the  German  Imperialist,  Nicholas 
Schomberg.  For  the  feeble  Clement  was  ever  wavering 
between  Giberti's  exhortations  to  prosecute  the  war  of 
Italian  independence  at  all  costs,  and  Schomberg's  more 
prudent  recommendation  to  make  peace,  even  at  the 
eleventh  hour,  with  the  enraged  Emperor,  no  matter  how 
severe  the  terms  demanded. 

At  the  battle  of  Frosinone,  the  advance  of  Lannoy 
and  Pompeo  Colonna  upon  Rome  was  temporarily 
checked  at  the  close  of  January,  1527,  but  all  efforts  of 
the  army  of  the  League  in  Lombardy  proved  unavailing 
to  arrest  the  progress  of  Frundsberg's  force,  which  was 
slowly  but  surely  fighting  its  way  from  the  Alps  towards 
the  Tiber.  The  kind  offices  of  Alfonso  of  Ferrara, 
whom  Clement  had  been  foolish  enough  to  exasperate, 
enabled  the  hard-pressed  Germans  to  surmount  all 
obstacles  natural  and  military  in  their  path,  whilst  Fortune 
at  the  same  time  deprived  the  Pope  and  indeed  Italy  of 
an  able  and  most  trustworthy  leader  in  the  person  of  the 
brave  but  brutal  Giovanni  delle  Bande  Nere,  head  of  the 
junior  branch  of  the  House  of  Medici  and  father  of  the 
future  first  Grand- Duke  of  Tuscany.  For  Giovanni  of 
the  Black  Bands  was  struck  down  by  a  bullet  in  a  small 
skirmish  on  the  banks  of  the  Mincio,  and  though  his  in- 
domitable pluck  permitted  him  to  hold  with  his  own  hand 
the  torch  so  as  to  assist  the  attending  surgeon  to  amputate 
the  injured  leg,  he  died  of  his  wound  at  Mantua  five  days 


3i2  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

later.  On  ist  December,  the  day  succeeding  Medici's 
death,  Frundsberg  was  joined  by  a  princely  adventurer, 
the  young  Philibert  of  Orange,  now  in  the  service  of  the 
Emperor ;  but  it  was  not  until  two  months  later  that  the 
Constable  of  Bourbon  was  able  to  quit  Milan  with  the 
Spanish  forces  and  to  form  a  junction  with  the  army  of 
advancing  Landsknechts  at  Pontenuro.  The  combined 
forces  of  German  volunteers  and  of  Spanish  soldiers  now 
reckoned  in  all  some  30,000  men,  well  supplied  with 
cavalry  but  greatly  deficient  in  artillery.  "It  was  a  for- 
midable host  of  veteran  soldiers,  whom  a  hundred  battles 
had  made  as  hard  as  steel,  and  whom  no  hardships  could 
bend  :  Catholics  and  Lutherans  all  fired  with  the  same 
fierce  hatred  of  the  Papacy  and  impelled  by  the  same 
thirst  for  spoil."1 

Meanwhile,  as  the  united  army  of  Frundsberg  and 
Bourbon  was  marching  towards  Bologna,  an  eight 
months'  truce  was  arranged  between  the  Pope  and  the 
viceroy  Lannoy,  which  under  the  circumstances  was 
probably  the  best  diplomatic  move  Clement  could  have 
made,  had  he  not  followed  the  signing  of  the  terms  by  a 
general  disarmament  of  his  forces,  thus  leaving  the  city 
defenceless  in  the  event  of  a  hostile  army  assailing  Rome 
from  the  north.  But  the  armistice,  though  certainly 
excellent  from  the  selfish  view  of  the  wavering  Pope, 
was  loudly  execrated  both  by  the  Colonna,  who  thought 
Lannoy 's  terms  far  too  lenient  to  Clement,  and  by  the 
patriotic  party  in  Italy,  which  was  furious  at  this  papal 
surrender  to  the  Emperor  after  the  late  victory  of 
Frosinone.  Clement  became  therefore  distrusted,  hated, 
and  anathematised  all  round  for  his  cold,  crafty  and  truly 
Medicean  policy.  But,  truce  or  no  truce,  the  Imperialist 

1  Gregorovius,  vol.  viii.,  part  ii. 


THE  SACK  OF  ROME  313 

army  of  the  north  was  determined  to  proceed.  On 
news  of  the  negotiations  recently  opened  between 
Clement  and  Lannoy,  a  mutiny  at  once  broke  out  in 
the  camp,  where  even  the  Landsknechts,  furious  at  the 
prospect  of  being  baulked  of  their  expected  prey,  set 
their  old  leader  Frundsberg  at  defiance,  and  loudly 
clamoured  for  pay  or  pillage.  Seized  with  an  apoplectic 
fit  in  the  midst  of  this  tumult,  the  aged  general  was  now 
removed  helpless  to  Ferrara,  so  that  the  advance  south- 
ward of  the  vast  but  undisciplined  Imperialist  army  was 
undertaken  solely  by  Bourbon,  who  was  practically  as 
much  the  servant  as  the  leader  of  this  Spanish-German 
host.  In  vain  did  Lannoy  himself  proceed  in  person  to 
expostulate  with  Bourbon  and  in  the  Pope's  name  to 
offer  higher  and  higher  ransom,  if  only  the  army  would 
retire  to  Milan ;  the  penniless  Bourbon  durst  not  turn 
back,  even  if  he  would.  In  despair  the  viceroy  returned 
to  Rome,  whilst  towards  the  close  of  April,  Bourbon 
found  himself  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Arezzo,  and 
within  a  few  leagues  of  Florence. 

The  governorship  of  Florence  had  been  entrusted 
by  Clement  to  Cardinal  Silvio  Passerini  of  Cortona, 
whilst  the  House  of  Medici  was  represented  in  that  city 
by  the  presence  of  the  little  Catherine,  heiress  of  her 
House,  and  the  two  lads,  Ippolito  and  Alessandro.  Of 
these  two  youths,  Ippolito  was  now  grown  into  a  hand- 
some, attractive  stripling,  filled  with  martial  instincts  and 
by  no  means  amenable  to  the  Pope's  intention  of  forcing 
him  to  embrace  an  ecclesiastical  career.  Alessandro,  on 
the  other  hand,  swarthy,  ill-featured  and  ungracious,  was 
undoubtedly  the  papal  favourite  ;  a  strange  circumstance 
which  was  popularly  attributed  to  the  Pope's  paternity 
of  this  unprepossessing  bastard,  who  was  later  created 


3i4  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Duke  of  Florence.1  Besides  these  three  Medici,  there 
was  the  proud  and  arrogant  Clarice  de'  Medici,  wife  of 
Filippo  Strozzi,  who  was  at  this  moment  a  hostage  at 
Naples  for  the  Pope's  good  faith,  a  position  which  caused 
much  anxiety  to  Clarice,  since  she  was  only  too  well 
acquainted  with  Clement's  innate  selfishness  and  constant 
double-dealing.  The  city  of  Florence,  however,  was  well 
prepared  for  any  emergency,  the  Duke  of  Urbino  having 
been  engaged  to  take  up  a  position  with  his  army  in  the 
Val  d'  Arno  at  Incisa,  in  case  Bourbon,  or  rather  his 
unruly  followers,  might  be  tempted  to  approach  and 
plunder  the  city.  But  for  this  act  of  forethought,  it  is 
not  improbable  that  Florence  might  have  anticipated  the 
horrors  of  the  evil  fate  which  was  to  overtake  Rome 
within  a  few  days.  But  seeing  his  avenue  to  Florence 
barred  by  a  resolute  general  with  an  adequate  army,  the 
Constable  of  Bourbon  decided  to  quit  Tuscany  and  to 
continue  his  course  direct  towards  Rome,  the  admitted 
goal  of  this  savage  armament. 

Nearer  and  nearer  towards  Rome  drew  the  force, 
yet  Clement  remained  immovable,  half-paralysed,  like 
some  small  bird  fascinated  by  a  snake.  Amid  torrents 
of  rain  the  mingled  host  of  German  Protestants  and  of 
Spanish  fanatics  slowly  continued  to  advance,  the 
ragged  and  starving  men  fording  the  swollen  mountain- 
torrents  with  clasped  hands  in  gangs  of  thirty,  and  for- 
getting their  hunger  and  nakedness  in  the  dazzling 
prospect  of  the  luxury  and  wealth  that  awaited  them  in 
Rome.  At  Viterbo,  the  Knights  of  Rhodes2  contrived 

1  Modesto  Rastrelli,  Duke  Alexander's  sole  biographer,  stoutly 
denies  this  common  belief,  and  declares  him  to  have  been  the  son 
of  Duke  Lorenzo  of  Urbino  by   an   unknown   mother    (Storia  d' 
Alessandro  de  Medici,  Primo  Due  a  di  firenze,  Firenze,  1781). 

2  The  Knights  of  Rhodes,  recently  expelled  from  their  ancient 
citadel,  had  been  placed  by  Adrian  VI.  at  Viterbo.     The  island  of 
Malta  was  granted  to  them  by  Charles  V.  in  1513. 


THE  SACK  OF  ROME  315 

to  save  their  town  from  pillage  by  contracting  to  supply 
the  famished  soldiers  with  provisions,  a  circumstance 
which  enabled  Bourbon's  army  to  hasten  southward,  so 
that  on  4th  May  the  vast  assembly  found  itself  encamped 
at  I  sola  Farnese,  the  site  of  ancient  Veii,  within  a  few 
miles  of  Rome  itself.  As  a  general  anxious  to  avoid 
the  possible  disgrace  of  a  military  repulse  and  also  as  a 
Catholic  prince,  Bourbon  was  certainly  willing  to  avoid 
the  inevitable  horrors  of  a  sack  of  the  Eternal  City  in  the 
present  temper  of  the  men  nominally  under  his  command. 
Accordingly,  from  this  point  he  began  to  send  heralds 
into  the  city  to  open  negotiations  with  Clement  for  the 
exaction  of  a  ransom  heavy  enough  to  satisfy  even  his 
clamouring  and  mutinous  troopers.  But  the  Pope,  whom 
it  is  kind  to  regard  as  temporarily  insane  through  sheer 
terror,1  would  make  no  reply  to  any  overtures  coming 
from  the  discredited  Constable  of  France.  On  the  con- 
trary, now  that  it  was  really  too  late,  a  feverish  activity 
of  defence  was  reigning  in  the  doomed  city,  where  Renzo 
da  Ceri  had  been  appointed  commander  of  the  force  it 
was  intended  to  raise.  More  prudent  than  their  vacillat- 
ing sovereign,  the  nobles  and  prelates  of  Rome  had  for 
some  time  been  making  ready  for  the  disaster  that 
Clement's  continued  folly  was  certain  to  bring  on  the 
city.  Not  a  few  had  fled,  in  spite  of  the  Pope's  severe 
edict  against  any  desertion  or  removal  of  treasure,  and 
of  those  who  remained,  several  had  fortified  their  houses 
and  engaged  young  men,  ben  pagati  e  ben  trattati,  to 
protect  their  property.  Amongst  these  private  residences 
carefully  garrisoned  against  coming  trouble,  was  the 
palace  of  the  Santi  Apostoli,  at  that  moment  inhabited 
by  the  Marchioness  of  Mantua,  the  intrepid  Isabella  d' 
Este,  who  had  been  staying  some  time  in  Rome,  im- 

1  Quern  Deus  vult  perdere,  prius  dementat. 


316  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

portuning  the  unwilling  and  perplexed  Clement  to  bestow 
a  scarlet  hat  on  her  son  Ercole.  This  boon  the  fascinat- 
ing Marchesa  had  at  last  secured,  but  only  on  the  eve 
of  the  catastrophe  which  we  are  about  to  relate.  For  on 
4th  May,  Clement  had  held  a  consistory,  whereat,  in 
order  to  raise  funds  in  this  emergency,  he  had  bestowed 
the  rank  of  cardinal  on  four  persons,  Ercole  Gonzaga 
being  amongst  them,  and  had  thereby  obtained  the  sum 
of  200,000  ducats  for  the  papal  treasury.  But  even  this 
step,  which  in  all  fairness  it  must  be  stated  Clement  only 
took  with  the  greatest  reluctance  and  after  much  entreaty 
from  his  counsellors,  proved  eventually  useless.  On 
Sunday,  5th  May,  the  Constable  had  marched  from  I  sola 
Farnese  to  the  Janiculan  Hill  on  the  western  side  of 
Rome,  where  he  himself  established  his  headquarters  in 
the  convent  of  Sant'  Onofrio,  whilst  his  army,  composed 
of  Spaniards,  Germans  and  the  Italian  followers  of  the 
Colonna  to  the  total  number  of  40,000,  bivouacked  in  the 
form  of  a  vast  semicircle  stretching  from  the  Porta  San 
Pancrazio  to  the  Torrione,  at  the  rear  of  the  Vatican 
gardens. 

At  the  first  flush  of  dawn  on  Monday,  6th  May,  a 
general  attack  was  made  with  improvised  scaling-ladders, 
but  these  efforts  were  at  first  checked  by  the  papal 
bombardiers,  among  them  being  Benvenuto  Cellini,  who 
were  serving  the  guns  at  Sant'  Angelo.  To  aid  the 
assailants  at  this  critical  moment,  there  arose  however  a 
thick  white  mist  from  the  Tiber,  enveloping  the  attacking 
force  and  obstructing  the  aim  of  the  Roman  gunners. 
In  the  confusion  wrought  by  this  sudden  fog,  the  Con- 
stable of  Bourbon,  conspicuous  in  his  shirt  of  silver  mail, 
rode  hither  and  thither,  encouraging  and  directing  the 
operations  of  attack,  until  a  stray  bullet  struck  the  prince 
in  the  thigh,  so  that  he  fell  mortally  wounded  to  earth, 


THE  SACK  OF  ROME  3x7 

crying  aloud  in  his  agony,  "  Ha,  Notre  Dame,  Je  suis 
mort !  "  The  young  Prince  of  Orange,  who  stood  next 
in  command,  at  once  covered  his  dying  leader's  body 
with  his  military  cloak  and  bore  him  to  a  chapel  hard  by, 
where  a  few  hours  later  Bourbon  expired.  Although 
Jovius  ascribes  Bourbon's  violent  end  to  the  direct  ven- 
geance of  Heaven  and  although  numbers  of  persons  in 
Rome,  including  that  irrepressible  braggart  Benvenuto 
Cellini,  dared  to  claim  the  honour  of  having  fired  the 
fatal  shot  which  slew  the  Constable  of  France,  the  death 
of  Bourbon  proved  in  reality  the  worst  misfortune  that 
could  have  afflicted  the  Romans  at  this  juncture,  for  it 
meant  the  loss  of  the  solitary  general  who  owned  any 
restraining  influence  (and  that  was  little  enough)  over  the 
hungry  and  infuriated  hordes,  who  were  thirsting  for  the 
blood  and  treasure  of  the  Eternal  City.  As  it  so  fell, 
this  untimely  slaughter  of  a  popular  leader  roused  the 
passions  of  his  men  to  fever  heat,  without  giving  any 
perceptible  advantage  to  the  besieged.  For  it  was  not 
long  before  the  assailing  party  under  cover  of  the  mist 
had  scaled  the  walls  at  several  points,  and  was  forcing 
its  way  into  the  Citta  Leonina,  the  walled  suburb  that 
lies  round  St.  Peter's. 

Although  Germans,  Spaniards  and  wild  mountaineers 
from  the  estates  of  the  Colonna  were  now  beginning  to 
pour  into  the  devoted  city,  shouting  triumphantly  in  three 
languages,  plundering  and  slaying,  yet  so  far  the  assailants 
had  only  carried  the  quarter  round  St.  Peter's,  so  that 
there  wras  still  time  for  the  Pope  and  his  troops  to  with- 
draw across  the  Tiber,  for  the  bridges  to  be  demolished 
and  for  the  passage  of  the  stream  to  be  vigorously  de- 
fended against  the  huge  mass  of  undisciplined  foreigners, 
until  the  expected  arrival  of  the  Italian  army  under  the 
Duke  of  Urbino,  who  was  supposed  to  be  pursuing 


3i8  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Bourbon.  The  papal  general,  Renzo  da  Ceri,  however, 
seems  to  have  lost  either  his  courage  or  his  wits  in 
this  terrible  crisis,  for  he  is  reported  to  have  given  the 
signal  for  a  general  stampede  into  the  neighbouring  castle 
of  Sant'  Angelo.  Yet  the  folly  of  such  a  step  must  have 
been  obvious  on  reflection,  for  by  filling  the  castle  to  its 
utmost  capacity  the  defending  party  was  cut  into  two 
divisions,  each  separated  from  the  other  by  the  inter- 
vening Tiber.  A  fearful  scene  of  slaughter,  confusion 
and  struggling  was  thus  brought  about,  the  like  of  which 
had  never  yet  been  witnessed  in  all  the  previous  sieges 
of  Rome,  and  perhaps  in  the  world's  history.  All  persons, 
in  every  rank  of  life,  from  cardinals  and  prelates  to 
servants  and  apprentices,  pressed  in  one  jostling  mass 
towards  the  open  drawbridge  of  the  castle,  whilst  the 
crush  of  terrified  humanity  on  the  adjacent  bridge  of 
Sant'  Angelo  was  so  fierce  that  the  plucky  old  Cardinal 
Pucci  of  Florence  was  with  difficulty  rescued  from  being 
trodden  underfoot,  and  had  finally  to  be  hauled  by  means 
of  ropes  from  the  ground  to  a  convenient  window. 
Others,  less  fortunate  than  this  prince  of  the  Church, 
failed  to  effect  an  entrance  and  were  quickly  despatched 
by  the  on-rushing  bloodthirsty  invaders.  In  all,  some 
3000  persons,  of  either  sex,  found  shelter  within  the  walls 
of  this  almost  impregnable  fortress,  once  the  tomb  of  the 
Emperor  Hadrian. 

Meanwhile  the  Pope  himself,  whose  past  deceit  and 
vacillation  had  brought  the  unhappy  city  to  this  awful 
extremity,  had  been  praying  since  dawn  for  the  success 
of  the  papal  arms,  "vainly  importuning  an  angry  Provi- 
dence at  the  altar  ".  The  tidings  of  Bourbon's  death  had 
given  him  a  passing  gleam  of  hope,  and  with  an  assumed 
air  of  majesty  the  Supreme  Pontiff  now  declared  himself 
ready  to  await  the  onset  of  the  Barbarians  in  the  event  of 


THE  SACK  OF  ROME  319 

their  victory,  clad  in  the  pontifical  robes  and  seated  on 
the  throne  of  state.  But  on  hearing  the  uproar  succeed- 
ing the  entry  of  the  foreigner  and  on  learning  the  truth 
of  the  situation,  Clement  fell  at  once  into  an  abject  state 
of  utter  fear  and  indecision,  and  like  most  weak  characters 
began  to  prate  wildly  of  betrayal  and  ingratitude.  Whilst 
weeping  and  complaining  thus,  the  historian  Paolo  Giovio 
earnestly  implored  the  distraught  Pontiff  to  join  the  crowd 
of  officials  who  were  already  hastening  from  the  Vatican 
to  the  castle  of  Sant'  Angelo  by  means  of  the  stone 
corridor,  whereby  the  prudent  Alexander  VI.  had  con- 
nected the  Apostolic  palace  with  its  adjacent  fortress. 
Leaving  his  oratory  and  proceeding  along  this  passage, 
the  eyes  of  the  terrified  Pope  could  perceive  through  its 
many  apertures  sickening  sights  of  priests  and  citizens 
pursued  and  butchered  by  the  halberds  of  the  furious 
Landsknechts.  "  As  Clement  was  hurrying  with  immense 
strides,"  so  Giovio  relates  in  his  graphic  narrative  of  this 
awful  moment,  "I,  Paolo  Giovio,  who  have  written  this 
account,  held  up  the  skirt  of  his  long  robe,  so  as  to  enable 
him  to  run  faster,  and  I  flung  my  own  purple  cloak  about 
his  head  and  shoulders,  lest  some  Barbarian  rascal  in  the 
crowd  below  might  recognise  the  Pope  by  his  white 
rochet,  as  he  was  passing  a  window,  and  take  a  chance  shot 
at  his  fleeing  form."]  Thus  with  the  timely  aid  of  the 
Bishop  of  Nocera,  did  the  miserable  Clement  VII.  save 
his  own  life  amid  the  general  carnage  and  confusion  by 
abandoning  his  palace  and  running  with  undignified  speed 
into  the  shelter  of  the  castle. 

With  the  Pope  and  thirteen  of  the  cardinals  and 
numberless  prelates  thus  self-immured  inside  the  strong 
walls  of  Sant'  Angelo,  the  citizens  of  Rome  were  forcibly 
driven  out  of  the  Trastevere,  whilst  before  sunset  the 

1  Vita  Pompeii  Colonnae. 


320  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Imperialists  had  carried  by  storm  the  Ponte  Sisto,  which 
was  being  held  with  a  desperation  worthy  of  the  old 
Roman  valour.  With  the  capture  of  this  bridge  the 
whole  city  lay  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the  Imperialists, 
who  at  once  proceeded  to  massacre  every  man,  woman 
or  child  that  had  not  as  yet  found  a  temporary  refuge  in 
the  fortified  palace  of  some  prince  or  cardinal.  Yet  even 
these  horrors  constituted  but  a  mild  prelude  to  the  rapine 
and  villainy  of  the  morrow.  For  at  daybreak  of  the 
seventh  day  of  May  the  terrible  Sack  of  Rome,  which 
marks  an  era  in  the  annals  of  Italy  and  indeed  of  Europe, 
began  in  deadly  earnest.  The  outrages  of  the  savage 
troopers,  maddened  with  wine  and  fanaticism,  are  too 
terrible  to  relate,  and  the  existing  descriptions  of  eye- 
witnesses, even  at  this  distance  of  time,  still  arouse  the 
liveliest  feelings  of  horror,  pity  and  indignation,  for  the 
event  was  a  repetition  of  the  sack  of  Prato,  but  on  an 
extended  scale  and  with  many  additional  barbarities. 
The  men  of  the  three  nations  engaged  in  this  fiendish 
task  exhibited  their  national  vices  in  the  horrible  work, 
for  the  German  Landsknechts  distinguished  themselves 
by  their  drunkenness  and  their  profanation  of  the  churches 
and  convents ;  the  Spaniards  by  their  heartless  and  re- 
volting tortures  upon  every  unhappy  creature  that  fell 
into  their  clutches ;  and  the  Italians  by  the  thorough 
manner  in  which  they  pillaged  every  house,  even  the 
hovels  of  the  poor  watermen,  carrying  away  the  very 
nails  and  hinges  of  the  doors.  An  exorbitant  ransom 
was  first  demanded  of  all  holders  of  the  fortified  resid- 
ences in  the  city,  but  this  was  only  a  preliminary  step  to 
the  raiding  and  ransacking  of  all  the  buildings  of  Rome 
with  the  exception  of  the  strongly  fortified  mansions  of 
the  Colonna — the  palaces  of  the  Cancelleria  and  of  the 
Apostoli.  In  vain  did  the  Imperialist  cardinals  and  pre- 


THE  SACK  OF  ROME  321 

lates,  the  foreign  nobles  and  even  the  ambassadors,  cry 
out  for  exemption ;  all  were  forced  to  surrender  their 
goods  and  were  brutally  slaughtered  at  the  first  sign  of 
argument  or  resistance.  Many  of  the  pampered  princes 
of  the  Church  were  carried  as  hostages  from  one  place 
to  another  m  quest  of  an  increased  ransom,  and  amongst 
others  thus  maltreated  was  the  Cardinal  of  Gaeta,  the 
late  opponent  of  Martin  Luther,  who  with  a  fool's  cap 
on  his  head  was  hustled  with  kicks  and  buffets  from  the 
jeering  Lutherans  towards  the  castle  of  Sant'  Angelo, 
so  that  the  imprisoned  Pope  might  perceive  the  fate 
awaiting  himself  on  the  capture  of  the  fortress.  Noble 
ladies  had  their  ears  and  arms  cut  off  by  the  sword  for 
the  sake  of  pendants  or  bracelets,  and  even  the  fingers 
of  prelates  were  thus  mutilated  to  secure  the  episcopal 
seal  rings.  The  sewers  and  the  very  tombs  were  rifled 
in  the  mad  search  for  hidden  treasure,  the  corpse  of 
Julius  II.  being  dragged  from  its  coffin  and  the  papal 
ornaments  fought  for  and  sold  to  the  active  Jews,  who 
as  usual  were  reaping  a  rich  harvest  out  of  the  public 
misfortunes.  The  relics  of  St.  Peter's  and  the  Lateran, 
even  the  most  revered  and  venerable,  were  bandied 
about  the  streets  and  made  the  objects  of  insult  and 
blasphemy  by  the  Lutheran  soldiers.  The  rich  vest- 
ments of  the  sacristies  were  seized  to  clothe  the  many 
courtesans  of  Rome,  who  drank  and  gambled  on  the 
altars  of  the  polluted  churches  with  their  swinish  pro- 
tectors. Priests  were  forced  to  take  part  in  blasphemous 
orgies,  or  were  murdered  for  refusing  to  obey.  In  the 
halls  of  the  palaces  of  cardinals,  nobles  and  ambassadors, 
the  plebeian  masters  of  the  Eternal  City  ate  and  drank 
to  excess  with  Roman  matrons  or  high-born  prelates  to 
wait  humbly  on  every  behest.  Everywhere  was  strewn 
the  wealth  of  the  richest  city  in  Christendom ;  valuable 

21 


322  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

manuscripts  from  famous  libraries  were  used  to  form  the 
litter  of  the  troopers'  horses ;  and  it  was  only  with  diffi- 
culty that  Philibert  of  Orange  saved  the  priceless  Vatican 
collection  from  a  similar  fate,  although  this  nominal 
general  was  himself  dwelling  in  the  Apostolic  palace. 
Such  was  the  condition  of  the  city  of  the  Caesars  and 
the  Popes,  when  Cardinal  Pompeo  Colonna  returned 
thither  in  haste  on  hearing  of  the  siege  and  sack.  Even 
this  fierce  enemy  of  the  Medici  and  the  secular  Papacy 
was  overwhelmed  with  dismay  and  fell  to  shedding  bitter 
tears  of  remorse  at  the  appalling  spectacle  of  desolation, 
mourning  and  massacre  that  met  his  eyes.  If  Giovio 
is  to  be  credited,  the  Colonna  did  what  he  could  to 
ameliorate  the  state  of  Rome,  and  his  presence  was 
probably  of  some  use  later  in  arranging  negotiations  with 
the  culpable  fugitive  in  the  castle  of  Sant'  Angelo.1 

Meanwhile,  the  unhappy  Clement  remained  secure  in 
the  stronghold  of  Sant'  Angelo  amid  sounds,  sights  and 
stenches  that  must  have  sickened  him  both  morally  and 
physically,  and  with  the  prospect  of  an  ignominious  and 
painful  death  before  him  in  the  possible  event  of  the 
capture  of  the  castle  through  treachery  or  a  successful 
assault.  Once  more,  as  in  the  days  of  Pope  Boniface 
VI II.,  was  Christ  openly  insulted  and  threatened  in  the 
person  of  His  Vicar  on  earth  ;  once  more  was  the  ill- 
omened  banner  of  France  with  the  golden  lilies  (that 
Bourbon  bore)  publicly  displayed  in  the  purlieus  of  the 
Holy  City.2  Vainly,  by  the  clear  light  of  morning  and 
evening,  did  the  harassed  Pope  cast  his  eyes  anxiously 

1  Jovius,  Vita  Pompeii  Colonnae  ;  C.  Milanesi,  //  Sacco  di  Roma 
del  MDXXVII.,  etc.,  etc. 

2  Veggio  in  Alagna  entrar  lo  Fiordaliso 
E  nel  Vicario  suo  Cristo  esser  catto,  etc. 

— Purgatorio,  canto  xx. 


THE  SACK  OF  ROME  323 

across  the  distant  Campagna  for  any  sign  of  the  army 
of  the  supine  and  perfidious  Duke  of  Urbino,  on  which 
with  folly  unutterable  Clement  always  professed  to  rely. 
Against  the  great  circular  mass  of  the  castle,  as  around  a 
solitary  rock  buffeted  by  an  angry  sea,  surged  one  after 
another  the  fierce  assaults  of  the  besiegers,  who  openly 
shouted  their  intention  to  hang  the  immured  Pontiff;— 
the  Spaniards,  because  he  was  the  enemy  of  their  Em- 
peror, and  the  Germans  for  his  late  persecution  of  their 
beloved  Martin  Luther.  The  fortress  was,  however, 
defended  meanwhile  with  great  skill  and  devotion  by  its 
lieutenant,  Antonio  Santacroce,  his  efforts  being  ably 
seconded  by  Benvenuto  Cellini,  whose  vivid  if  egotistic 
account  of  the  siege  of  Sant'  Angelo  reads  like  a  lurid 
incident  from  some  historical  romance.1  Living  on  the 
coarsest  of  food  and  enduring  the  sweltering  heats  of 
a  Roman  May,  Clement  and  his  companions  spent  in 
the  ancient  tomb  of  Hadrian  some  five  weeks  of  hunger, 
misery,  privation  and  uncertainty,  whilst  the  overwhelm- 
ing indignity  of  his  position  almost  slew  the  Pope  with 
mingled  grief  and  shame.  For  within  a  fortnight  of  the 
capture  of  Rome,  the  news  was  brought  to  the  helpless 
Pontiff  that  his  agent  Cardinal  Passerini  had  been  ex- 
pelled from  Florence ;  that  a  new  republic  had  been 
proclaimed  amidst  general  rejoicings  ;  that  his  own  effigy 
had  been  dragged  from  the  church  of  the  Anunziata  and 
hacked  to  pieces  with  contumely  in  the  streets.  And 
this  evil  intelligence  was  still  further  aggravated  by  the 
report  of  the  conduct  of  Filippo  and  Clarice  Strozzi  on 
this  occasion,  for  that  intrepid  niece  of  Leo  X.,2  who 
hated  and  despised  the  bastard  Clement,  had  railed  in 
public  at  the  two  youths  Ippolito  and  the  beloved  Ales- 

1  Vita  di  B.  Cellini. 

2  Her  father  was  Piero  II.,  eldest  son  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent. 


324  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

sandro,  and  in  the  plainest  of  terms  had  denounced  their 
base  birth,  even  adding  her  opinion  that  Clement  himself 
had  no  right  to  fill  the  office  of  Pope.  With  the  con- 
tinual thunder  of  cannon  in  his  ears ;  with  the  horrible 
scenes  daily  enacted  below  the  walls  of  the  prison-fortress  ; 
with  fever  and  famine  hourly  gaining  ground  amongst 
the  refugees  of  the  castle,  did  Clement  drag  out  a  miser- 
able life-in-death  for  more  than  a  month.  With  Rome 
in  ruins  at  his  feet  and  with  Florence  revolted  from  his 
yoke,  and  with  himself  an  universal  object  of  contempt 
and  execration  throughout  all  Italy,  Clement  at  last 
decided  to  capitulate  unconditionally  to  the  Emperor's 
representative  on  7th  June  after  thirty  days  of  misery 
untold. 

Although  the  Emperor  affected  to  feel  extreme  com- 
passion for  his  helpless  captive  and  had  even  commanded 
the  Imperial  court  to  don  mourning  in  atonement  for  the 
barbarities  of  the  sack  of  Rome,  he  nevertheless  per- 
sisted in  keeping  Clement  a  close  prisoner  within  the 
castle  walls,  where  the  long  hot  summer  and  autumn  were 
passed  in  sickness,  lamentation  and  dire  suspense.  At 
length  the  Pope,  who  for  some  time  past  had  noticed  a 
decreasing  vigilance  amongst  his  personal  guards,  plucked 
up  sufficient  courage  to  meditate  escape,  with  the  result 
that  on  5th  December  in  the  disguise  of  a  gardener  he 
eluded  the  night-watch  and  got  clear  of  the  citadel  which 
had  been  his  prison  for  so  many  weary  months.  Hasten- 
ing northward  towards  the  Umbrian  mountains,  Clement 
hurried  with  a  few  followers  to  the  almost  impregnable 
city  of  Orvieto,  set  upon  lofty  precipices  of  tawny  rock 
and  approached  from  the  deep  valley  of  the  Paglia  by  a 
solitary  mule  track.  Taking  up  his  residence  in  the 
drear  deserted  episcopal  palace,  the  cowering  and  humi- 


THE  SACK  OF  ROME  325 

Hated  Medici  found  some  degree  of  liberty,  but  even  less 

actual  comfort  than  he  had  experienced  in  his  Roman 

fortress.      In  any  case,  Clement  by  his  flight  obtained  no 

respite  from  political  cares  and  dangers,  for  scarcely  had 

he  arrived  weary  and  alarmed  at  Orvieto,  than  there  was 

announced  the  advent  of  an  important  embassy  from  the 

English  court,  including  Dr.  Stephen  Gardiner  and  Dr. 

Edward    Foxe,    who   were   come   to   demand    a    most 

difficult  and   dangerous  favour   of  the  fugitive  Pontiff. 

For  the  object  of  the  embassy  was  to  obtain  the  Pope's 

authority    to   annul  Henry    VIII.'s   marriage   with   his 

Queen,  Catherine  of  Aragon,  the  aunt  of  the  omnipotent 

Emperor,  on  whose  caprice  or  policy  depended  at  this 

moment  the  very  salvation  of  the  secular  Papacy  itself. 

Rousing  himself  to  face  this  new  dilemma  with  Medicean 

cunning  if  not  with  manly  courage,  Clement  proceeded  to 

temporise  with  the  English  envoys  by  holding  out  vague 

hopes  of  his  ultimate  consent  to  King  Henry's  petition, 

if  only  his  former  position  of  independence  could  be  re* 

covered.     Foxe  and  Gardiner,  who  were  thus  dismissed 

half-satisfied    with   the   nebulous  promises   of  the   wily 

Medici,  gave  on  their  return  home  a  most  melancholy 

account  of  the  miserable  plight  of  Clement  and  his  court, 

as  well  as  of  the  squalor  of  Orvieto,  "where  all  things  are 

in  such  a  scarcity  and  dearth  as  we  think  have  not  been 

seen  in  any  place ;  and  that  not  only  in  victuals,  which 

can  not  be  brought  into  the  town  in  any  great  quantity, 

by    reason  that  everything   is  conveyed   by  asses   and 

mules,  but  also  in  other  necessaries.  .  .  .  Orvieto  may  well 

be  called  Urbs  Vetus,  for  every  man  in  all  languages  at 

his  entry  would  give  it  none  other  name.     We  can  not 

well  tell  the  Pope  should  be  noted  in  liberty,  being  here, 

where  hunger,  scarcity,  ill-favoured  lodging,  ill  air,  and 

many  other  incommodities  keep  him  and  all  his  as  straitly 


326  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

as  he  was  ever  kept  in  Castle  Angelo.  It  is  aliqua 
miitatio  soli,  sect  nulla  libertatis ;  and  in  manner  the 
Pope  could  not  deny  to  Mr.  Gregory,1  '  it  were  better  to 
be  in  captivity  in  Rome  than  here  at  liberty'.  The 
Pope  lieth  in  an  old  palace  of  the  bishops  of  the  city, 
ruinous  and  decayed,  where  or  we  came  to  his  privy 
chamber,  we  pass  three  chambers,  all  naked  and  un- 
hanged, the  roofs  fallen  down,  and  as  one  can  guess, 
thirty  persons,  rifraf  and  others,  standing  in  the  chambers 
for  a  garnishment.  And  as  for  the  Pope's  bed-chamber, 
all  the  apparel  in  it  was  not  worth  twenty  nobles,  bed  and 
all."2 

In  four  months'  time,  however,  the  harassed  Pope, 
who  must  have  detested  the  Emperor,  and  the  Emperor, 
who  must  have  despised  beyond  measure  the  ever-schem- 
ing Pontiff,  were  again  re-united  in  supposed  amity  by 
the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  Barcelona,  to  which  selfish 
compact  of  mutual  convenience  Francis  of  France  gave 
his  adhesion  during  the  summer  of  1529.  This  cynical 
triumvirate  of  Pope,  King  and  Emperor  was  destined  to 
prove  fatal  to  the  newly  proclaimed  liberties  of  the  Re- 
public of  Florence,  now  the  sole  Italian  city  of  importance, 
save  Venice,  which  remained  free  from  foreign  domina- 
tion. Abandoned  by  her  historic  ally  of  France  and  now 
marked  out  for  his  certain  prey  by  the  vindictive 
Clement,  the  Florentine  Republic  possessed  scarcely  a 
chance  of  retaining  her  independence  in  face  of  this  recent 
political  combination,  which  had  been  called  into  existence 
by  Clement  chiefly  with  the  object  of  recovering  the  city 
for  himself  and  the  papal  favourites.  And  to  carry  out 
this  unholy  scheme  of  aggression,  Clement,  with  a  callous 
villainy  that  to  this  day  has  been  neither  forgotten  nor  for- 

1  Gregorio  da  Casale. 

2  State  Papers,  vol.  vii.,  p.  63. 


CLEMENT  VII    AND    FRANCIS   I    OF    FRANCE 


THE  SACK  OF  ROME  327 

given  in  Italy,  must  needs  contract  with  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  who  had  been  his  own  gaoler  in  Rome  and  whose 
troops  had  so  lately  desecrated  his  capital,  to  take  com- 
mand of  this  armament  necessary  for  the  reduction  of 
Florence.  Not  a  small  portion  of  the  Pope's  hastily  levied 
force  consisted  of  German  and  Spanish  adventurers 
openly  urged  to  enlist  by  promise  of  an  expected  sack  of 
the  rebellious  city  of  the  Medici.  "  Aha,  Signora  Fiorenza, 
get  ready  your  rich  brocades,  for  we  are  coming  to 
measure  them  by  the  pike  and  not  by  the  ell ! "  became  a 
constant  and  mirth-provoking  witticism  amongst  these 
savage  and  spoiled  mercenaries,  as  they  were  busily 
furbishing  their  weapons  in  readiness  for  the  expected 
march  northward,  towards  the  valley  of  the  Arno. 

On  the  24th  day  of  October,  1529,  appeared  the 
army  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  before  the  walls  of  the 
devoted  city,  and  for  the  third  and  last  time  in  history 
did  the  venerable  Republic  of  Florence  prepare  to  do  battle 
for  existence  against  the  wealth,  power  and  influence  of 
the  House  of  Medici.  But  whilst  the  siege  was  being 
prosecuted  with  varying  fortune,  the  formal  act  of  re- 
conciliation between  Charles  and  Clement  took  place  in 
the  opening  month  of  the  following  year,  1530,  at  Bologna 
which  had  been  fixed  upon  as  the  most  convenient  place 
for  the  Imperial  coronation.  This  splendid  public  in- 
vestiture of  Charles  V.  with  the  Iron  Crown  of  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire  may  be  said  to  have  sealed  the  fate  of 
the  struggling  Florentines,  who  had  now  to  chose  between 
the  inevitable  issues  of  a  successful  assault  on  the  city 
followed  by  the  horrors  of  a  sack,  or  of  a  peaceful  sur- 
render to  the  Medici  on  the  most  humiliating  terms. 
Fortunately  perhaps  for  the  people  of  Florence,  the  latter 
course  was  thrust  upon  them  through  the  death  of  their 
brave  citizen  Federigo  Ferruccio  in  the  battle  of  Gavinana 


THE  MEDICI  POPES 

and  the  appalling  treachery  of  the  Republic's  own  paid 
commander,  Malatesta  Baglioni;  these  two  disasters 
combined  to  enforce  a  bloodless  capitulation  upon  the 
unhappy  city,  which  formally  opened  its  gates  to  the 
Imperial  and  papal  army  on  1 2th  August  after  a  siege  of 
nearly  ten  months. 

And  although  a  clause  actually  providing  for  the  pre- 
servation of  the  time-honoured  liberties  and  privileges  of 
the  city  had  been  inserted  amidst  the  terms  of  surrender, 
the  Florentines  themselves  must   have   been   only  too 
well  aware,  from  Clement's  notorious  political  reputation, 
that  such  a  safeguard  would  never  be  respected  by  the 
unscrupulous  Pope.     Indeed,  it  was  evident  to  all  men 
that  Florence   lay  absolutely  at   the   mercy  of  the  tri- 
umphant Clement,  the  relative  and  patron  of  the  two 
youths,  Ippolito  and  Alessandro  de'  Medici,  who  had 
three  years   before  been   ignominously   chased   hence. 
Even  assuming   Clement's   determination   to  win   back 
Florence   was   natural  if  not  laudable,  it  becomes  im- 
possible to  censure  too  strongly  his  brutal  and  unpatriotic 
methods  of  regaining  the  city ;  whilst  the  common  belief 
that  his  extreme  eagerness  to  accomplish  this  end  was 
prompted  by  paternal  anxiety  to  push   the  fortunes  of 
his   supposed  natural   son,  the  ill-favoured   Alessandro, 
now  Duke  of  Civiti  Penna  by  the  Emperor's  favour, 
only  makes  the  Pope's  conduct  appear  less  edifying  and 
excusable.      Although    later    historians    have    perhaps 
painted   Clement's   tyranny   over   recaptured    Florence 
even  blacker  than  its  reality,  yet  it  speaks  eloquently  for 
the  Pontiffs  own  sense  of  his  shame  in  the  late  transac- 
tion that  he  no  more  ventured  to  show  his  face  in  the 
streets  of  his  native   city  during  his  lifetime,  but  ever 
contented  himself  with   arranging  and   controlling   the 
new  Florentine  government  from  a  distance. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
LAST  YEARS  OF  CLEMENT  VII 

Pope  Clement  VII.  died  unregretted  even  by  those  nearest  to 
his  person  ;  deceitful,  avaricious,  cruel  and  heartless,  he  had  all  the 
bad  without  any  of  the  redeeming  qualities  of  his  race ;  he  was  acute, 
able  and  clear-sighted  as  a  statesman,  but  weak  and  unsteady  in  his 
resolutions,  and  never  by  any  chance  sincere.  He  was  detested  by 
the  Romans  as  the  author  of  all  their  calamities  and  by  everybody 
else  as  one  of  the  basest  men  and  worst  Pontiffs  that  ever  wore  the 
sacred  seal  of  the  Fisherman  (H.  E.  Napier,  Florentine  History). 

DURING  the  summer  months  of  1528,  shortly 
after  his  return  from  dismal    Orvieto  to  his 
devastated  capital,  Clement,  once  again  recon- 
ciled  to  the  Emperor,  began  to  take  active  measures  to 
further  the  career  of  the  younger  and  more  favoured  of 
his  relatives,   Ippolito  and  Alessandro  de'  Medici.     As 
Leo  X.'s  Italian  policy  had  largely  been  based  upon  his 
ambitious  projects  on  behalf  of  the  papal  nephew  Lorenzo 
de'  Medici,  so  Clement  VII.,  a  true  imitator  of  his  cousin 
Leo,   now  concentrated  all  his   efforts   on  obtaining  a 
principality  for  the  boy  Alessandro,  whom  shrewd  but  ill- 
natured  persons  were  inclined  to  designate  as  the  Pope's 
offspring  rather  than  as  the  unacknowledged  natural  son 
of  the  late  Duke  Lorenzo  of  Urbino.     As  neither  Ippolito 
nor  Alessandro  were  in    reality  closely  related  to  the 
Pontiff,   the  latter  in  particular  being  (if  his  presumed 
parentage  were  admitted)  only  the  grandson  of  Piero  il 
Pazzo,  Clement's  first  cousin,  it  seems  scarcely  possible 
to  deny  the  probable  correctness  of  this  supposition  of 

329 


330  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

the  Pope's  true  paternity  of  this  hideous  and  horrible 
youth,  who  through  papal  and  Imperial  influence  was  ere 
long  to  be  acclaimed  as  Duke  of  Florence.  Towards 
Ippolito,  however,  the  attractive  if  headstrong  son  of  the 
gracious  Giuliano  and  the  favourite  of  his  late  uncle 
Leo  X.,  the  Pope  bore  far  less  affection ;  and  although 
Ippolito  was  a  year  or  more  older  than  Alessandro,  was 
comely  and  courteous,  and  was  far  from  being  unpopular 
with  the  Florentines,  yet  Clement  was  evidently  bent  on 
removing  this  young  prince  out  of  the  path  of  Alessandro's 
advancement  by  forcibly  raising  him  to  the  purple.  In 
vain  did  the  high-mettled  and  pleasure-loving  Ippolito 
plead  against  this  imposition  of  an  ecclesiastical  career  for 
which  he  was  so  obviously  unsuited  by  natural  inclination  ; 
the  Pope,  who  had  his  own  private  and  selfish  reasons 
for  this  resolve,  was  inexorable,  and  eventually  this 
prince,  in  spite  of  his  base  birth,  his  own  protests  and  his 
manifest  unfitness,  was  compelled  to  enter  the  ranks  of 
the  Sacred  College.  By  this  step,  so  shamelessly  re- 
pugnant on  all  moral  grounds,  did  Clement  accomplish  a 
cherished  piece  of  statecraft,  whereby  he  might  not  only 
secure  the  hoped-for  dominion  of  Florence  for  his  beloved 
Alessandro,  but  might  also  at  the  same  time  set  a  definite 
barrier  to  any  marriage  in  the  future  between  Giuliano's 
son  and  his  cousin,  the  "  Duchessina,"  Caterina  de'  Medici. 
For  a  youthful  attachment  had,  it  seems,  already  been 
formed  between  the  handsome  stripling  and  the  little 
pale-faced  big-eyed  girl,  the  sole  heiress  of  her  House, 
who  of  these  two  papal  nephews  detested  the  ugly 
Alessandro  (her  so-called  half-brother)  and  adored  the 
good-looking,  generous  and  high-spirited  Ippolito.  Upon 
the  mere  possibility  of  such  an  union  Clement  looked  with 
a  most  jealous  eye  for  two  reasons  :  first,  because  such  an 
alliance  would  operate  to  spoil  the  chance  of  Alessandro's 


LAST  YEARS  OF  CLEMENT  VII  331 

sovereignty  over  Florence ;  and  second,  because  he  hoped 
to  bestow  Catherine's  hand  upon  some  prince  of  a  reigning 
European  House,  whereby  certain  political  advantages 
might  accrue  to  himself  and  the  Holy  See. 

Having  thus  compelled  the  reluctant  Ippolito  to 
accept  a  Cardinal's  hat,  Clement,  who  had  for  some  time 
past  been  ailing  with  a  sickness  accounted  mortal,  made 
a  forcible  appeal  to  the  Emperor  to  employ  his  good 
offices  for  the  furtherance  of  the  career  of  Alessandro, 
now  an  exile  in  Rome  ever  since  his  ignominious  expulsion 
from  Florence  in  the  previous  year.  "If  it  be  the  will 
of  His  Divine  Majesty,"  wrote  Clement  from  his  sick-bed, 
"  to  take  me,  His  unworthy  servant,  to  Himself,  I  re- 
commend to  your  Sovereign  Power  mine  exiled  nephew,1 
since  no  longer  can  I  urge  forward  his  interests  by  mine 
own  exertions.  It  is  my  sincere  petition  that  you  will 
replace  him  in  that  position  which  of  justice  he  lately  filled, 
and  of  which  he  has  recently  been  deprived  by  the  evil 
behaviour  of  others.  O  let  your  performance  of  this 
meritorious  service  be  made  as  an  atonement  and  com- 
pensation for  all  that  has  been  done  in  the  past  against 
my  proper  dignity !  Further  than  this  I  crave  nothing 
of  you,  and  I  give  you  my  paternal  blessing."2 

To  this  urgent  appeal  of  a  doting  parent  or  patron, 
the  Emperor  replied  by  creating  Alessandro  Duke  of 
Civita  Penna,  and  later  by  abetting  and  assisting  in 
Clement's  schemes  for  the  reduction  of  Florence.  More- 
over, a  suitable  match  for  this  lucky  young  prince  was 
suggested  by  the  magnanimous  Charles  himself,  who 
offered  to  bestow  his  own  natural  daughter,  Margaret  of 
Austria,  in  matrimony  with  this  Medicean  upstart.  Pope 

1  Nipote.     The  word  is  very  loosely  used  in  Italian  to  express 
nephew,  grandson  or  (as  in  this  case)  any  near  relative. 

2  Rastrelli,  Vita  di  Alessandro  de  Medici,  p.  41. 


332  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

and  Emperor  being  completely  in  accord  as  to  the  neces- 
sity of  erecting  some  principality  for  this  base-born  pair 
in  the  ultimate  event  of  their  marriage,  it  became  an  easy 
matter  for  Clement,  with  the  Emperor's  connivance,  to 
form  the  reconquered  city  of  Florence  into  a  duchy  for 
this  purpose.  On  26th  July,  1531,  Alessandro  de'  Medici, 
aged  scarcely  twenty  years,1  was  proclaimed  Duke  of 
Florence,  and  thus  in  the  person  of  this  ignoble  youth 
was  every  lingering  vestige  of  the  old  Florentine 
Republic  definitely  and  forever  swept  away.  Clement, 
it  is  true,  did  not  survive  to  witness  this  cherished  union 
between  his  favourite  and  the  young  Margaret  of  Austria, 
but  he  lived  long  enough  to  be  tormented  in  mind  by 
the  sinister  reports  from  Florence  of  the  conduct  and 
reputation  of  the  duke,  whose  reign  of  five  years  was 
marked  throughout  by  acts  of  violence,  despotism  and 
illegality,  and  ended  worthily  in  the  brutal  murder  of  the 
tyrant  himself  within  the  ancient  palace  of  the  Medici.2 

Seeing  that  the  final  extinction  of  the  old  civic 
liberties  and  the  subsequent  rule  of  this  repulsive  young 
prince  were  due  solely  to  the  selfish  ambition  of  Clement, 
it  is  not  surprising  to  find  that  the  memory  of  the  second 
Medicean  Pontiff  is  still  held  in  deep  abhorrence  by  the 
descendants  of  his  countrymen.  Yet  the  "  Sala  di 
Clemente  Settimo,"  with  its  frescoes  and  portraits  by 
Vasari,  still  exists  for  a  memorial  in  that  Florentine 
palace,  whose  great  hall  likewise  contains  a  fine  piece  of 
statuary  representing  the  Pope  conferring  the  imperial 
diadem  on  Charles  V.,  who  kneels  at  his  feet.  Never- 

1  The  date  of  Alessandro's  birth  is  unknown,  but  it  probably  be- 
longs to  the  year  1512.     Ippolito  de'  Medici  was  born  in  1511. 

2  Amongst   the   few   existing   memorials   of  this   evil  Duke  of 
Florence    may   be    mentioned    the    coronet   and    coat-of-arms,    in 
coloured  terra-cotta,  affixed  to  the  fa9ade  of  the  Florentine  church 
of  Ogni  Santi. 


LAST  YEARS  OF  CLEMENT  VII  333 

theless,  it  is  remarkable  that,  either  by  design  or  acci- 
dent, the  vast  picture  galleries  of  Florence  contain  no 
prominent  portrait  of  this  papal  betrayer  of  his  native 
city  ;  although  in  the  roof  of  one  of  the  gorgeous  saloons 
in  the  Pitti  Palace  the  observant  stranger  may  detect  the 
form  of  Clement  VII.  seated  beside  that  of  his  popular 
cousin,  Leo  X. 

Having  thus  set  Alessandro  firmly  in  the  seat  of 
power  over  the  helpless  Florentines  and  having  curbed 
the  highly  inconvenient  energy  of  the  young  Ippolito  by 
creating  him  a  cardinal,  Clement  now  found  himself  free 
to  turn  his  attention  to  the  third  member  of  the  family 
who  had  fallen  under  his  personal  guardianship.  This 
was  of  course  Caterina  de'  Medici,  who  is  described  by 
the  Venetian  ambassador  Soriano  at  this  time  as  being 
"small  in  stature,  thin  and  with  indifferent  features,  but 
with  the  large  eyes  that  are  characteristic  of  all  the 
Medici ". 

The  unfortunate  orphan  girl,  the  last  legitimate  sur- 
vivor of  the  senior  branch  of  her  House,  had  already 
entered  her  fourteenth  year  when  the  Pope  began  to 
entertain  proposals  for  her  speedy  marriage  from  all 
quarters'  of  Europe,  for  with  an  ample  dowry  and  various 
political  pretensions  the  youthful  heiress  found  no  lack  of 
aspirants  to  her  hand.  Amongst  her  many  suitors  by 
proxy  at  this  time  was  numbered  the  young  Duke  of 
Richmond,  the  favourite  natural  son  of  Henry  VIII.  of 
England ;  but  it  is  needless  to  state  that  the  crafty  and 
cold-blooded  Clement  looked  to  secure  a  far  more  brilliant 
husband  for  his  ward  than  a  mere  English  duke.  In  the 
delicate  art  of  matchmaking  indeed  the  innate  cunning  of 
Clement's  unpleasant  character  was  fully  revealed,  for 
the  Pope  was  now  scheming  steadily  to  ensure  the 
promised  union  of  Margaret  of  Austria  with  the  Duke  of 


334  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Florence  and  at  the  same  time  to  arrange  a  marriage  for 
the  little  Catherine  with  a  royal  prince  of  the  House  of 
France.  For  by  this  dual  alliance  of  a  daughter  of  the 
Emperor  and  a  son  of  King  Francis  with  his  own  re- 
lations, the  restless  Pope  fancied  he  was  going  to 
strengthen  enormously  his  own  political  position.  Yet 
even  on  this  meditated  match  with  the  French  court  the 
shifty  Clement  outwardly  seemed  scarcely  to  know  his 
own  mind,  for  "he  speaks  about  it,"  comments  the 
Venetian  envoy,  "at  one  moment  cordially,  and  at 
another  coldly,  according  to  his  irresolute  nature".  But 
in  all  probability  Clement  was  merely  anxious  to  conceal 
both  from  Francis  and  the  Emperor  his  extreme  eager- 
ness to  grasp  at  so  brilliant  and  valuable  a  family  con- 
nection as  this  French  alliance  which  he  had  good  reason 
to  fear  the  Emperor  might  flatly  forbid.  The  final 
settlement  of  Catherine's  betrothal  to  one  out  of  her  host 
of  suitors  was  therefore  deferred,  until  the  projected 
meeting  which  Clement  and  Charles  had  arranged  should 
take  place  at  Bologna  towards  the  close  of  the  year 

1532. 

Ill  and  depressed,  yet  preferring  at  any  cost  to  under- 
take this  second  arduous  journey  to  Bologna  rather  than 
to  give  Charles  the  opportunity  of  traversing  the  Papal 
States  so  as  to  confer  with  him  in  Rome  itself,  Clement 
set  out  for  the  appointed  place  about  the  middle  of 
November,  1532,  choosing  the  more  difficult  and  danger- 
ous route  by  way  of  Perugia  in  order  to  avoid  a  halt 
within  sight  of  Florence,  although  his  favourite  Alessandro 
was  now  reigning  there  as  duke.  In  the  papal  retinue 
during  this  journey  northwards  rode  King  Henry  VIII.'s 
envoy,  Dr.  Edmund  Bonner,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don, and  it  is  through  the  pen  of  this  English  prelate  that 
we  possess  a  curious  account  of  the  trials  and  difficulties 


LAST  YEARS  OF  CLEMENT  VII  335 

the  ailing  Pontiff  was  forced  to  endure  on  his  way  to 
meet  a  master  whom  he  cordially  detested,  yet  had  per- 
force ever  to  humour  and  reverence.1 

"To  advertise  your  Mastership  of  our  news,"  so 
writes  Bonner  to  Thomas  Cromwell  on  Christmas  Eve, 
1532,  "you  shall  understand  that  the  i8th  of  November 
the  Pope,  taking  with  him  only  in  his  journey  and  com- 
pany six  cardinals  with  no  great  number,  entered  his 
journey  towards  Bologna,  not  keeping  the  common  way, 
which,  as  you  know,  is  by  Florence  and  foul  enough,  but 
by  Perugia  and  the  lands  of  the  Church ;  six  other  car- 
dinals to  make  up  a  brown  dozen,  and  yet  not  all  good 
saints,  taking  their  journey  by  Florence  with  the  rest  of 
the  company.  The  said  journey  to  the  Pope,  by  reason 
of  the  continual  rain  and  foul  way,  with  other  unfortunable 
accidents,  as  the  loss  of  certain  of  his  mules  and  the 
breaking  of  the  leg  of  one  Turkish  horse  that  he  had,  special 
good,  and  above  all  for  the  evil  lodging  that  he  had  with 
his  company,  was  wondrous  painful ;  the  Pope  divers 
time  compelled,  by  reason  of  the  foulness  and  danger  of 
the  way,  to  go  on  foot  the  space  of  a  mile  or  two,  and  his 
company ;  besides  that  pleasure  and  pastime,  for  lack  of 
a  feather-bed,  compelled  to  lie  in  the  straw." 

Yet  Clement,  though  sick  in  mind  and  body,  struggled 
onward  through  wet  weather  and  over  miry  roads, 
finally  reaching  his  goal  on  7th  December.  "  The 
Pope's  entry  into  Bononie,"  continues  Bonner  in  his 
letter  to  Cromwell,  "was  two  times,  the  first  upon  Our 
Lady's  Even2  secretly,  without  ceremonies  or  pride,  only 
within  the  walls  of  the  city ;  the  other  was  in  Die  Con- 
ceptionis  with  ceremonies  accustomed,  and  yet  no  great 
company ;  the  Pope  riding  in  his  long  white  kirtle,  hav- 

1  State  Papers  of  Henry  VIII.,  vol.  vii.,  p.  394. 

2  Eve  of  the  Feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  8th  December. 


336  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

ing  his  rochet  upon  the  same  and  a  stole  about  his  neck, 
and  so  coming  to  his  palace.  Of  any  miracles  done 
upon  any  halt  or  lame  or  otherwise,  I  heard  not  of."  * 

This  second  meeting  arranged  between  Pope  and 
Emperor  proved  neither  so  gorgeous  nor  so  animated  an 
affair  as  the  late  spectacle  of  the  Imperial  coronation 
in  this  very  city  of  Bologna,  held  only  two  years  before. 
A  splendid  pageant,  gratifying  alike  to  the  ambition  of 
Charles  and  to  the  pride  of  the  Medici,  had  then  con- 
trived to  shed  a  lustre  of  cheerfulness  and  content  upon 
the  participants  in  the  ceremony  of  1530;  whereas  at 
this  moment  it  was  but  a  question  of  urgent  business. 
The  harassed  and  anxious  Clement  had  two  special 
objects  to  obtain  out  of  the  conference ; — the  postpone- 
ment of  the  calling  of  a  General  Council  of  the  Church, 
which  the  Emperor  was  being  strongly  urged  to  convoke  ; 
and  the  settlement  of  the  little  Catherine's  matrimonial 
prospects.  As  to  the  first,  it  was  openly  said  that  the 
very  sound  of  the  word  "Council"  always  struck  a 
pallor  into  the  nervous  face  of  the  Medici,  who  had  risen 
by  a  course  of  unprecedented  intrigues  to  the  highest 
dignity  in  Christendom,  and  consequently  was  ever 
haunted  by  the  fear  that  such  a  representative  assembly 
would  immediately  clamour  for  the  deposition  of  the 
impostor  Clement  VII.,  on  account  of  his  illegitimacy. 
With  regard  to  the  second  matter  of  importance,  the 
Pope  was  most  anxious  to  obtain  Charles's  approval  of 
the  suggested  French  marriage,  and  yet  at  the  same  time 
to  make  certain  of  the  projected  match  between  his 
favourite  Alessandro  and  the  Emperor's  daughter, 
Margaret. 

Clement's  methods  of  gaining  a  political  point  were 

1  Slate  Papers  of  Henry  VIII.,  op.  cit. 


LAST  YEARS  OF  CLEMENT  VII  337 

always  deceitful,  mean  and  tortuous,  yet  they  were  not 
unfrequently  successful,  as  in  this  instance,  when  he  was 
able  to  return  to  Rome  early  in  the  year  1533,  well  satis- 
fied with  the  reflection  that  he  had  staved  off,  if  only  for 
a  time,  the  dreaded  convocation  of  a  General  Council  of 
the  Church,  and  had  also  secured  the  Emperor's  grudging 
assent  to  the  French  marriage  ;  an  assent,  however,  which 
Charles  had  given  carelessly,  since  in  his  own  mind  he 
could  not  conceive  of  the  splendid  Francis  of  France 
seriously  intending  to  allow  any  son  of  his  House  to  mate 
with  the  daughter  of  a  Florentine  burgher  line,  with  "one 
who  was  little  more  than  a  private  gentlewoman ".  In 
the  late  duel  of  diplomatic  skill,  therefore,  at  Bologna  the 
wily  Pope  certainly  outwitted  the  Emperor,  for  Clement 
had  made  sure  beforehand  of  the  sincerity  of  the  French 
King's  professions  with  regard  to  the  disposal  of  the  poor 
little  heiress,  who  chanced  to  be  the  Pope's  most  valuable 
political  asset.  Instructions  were  hurriedly  conveyed  to 
the  French  envoys  at  Bologna,  the  Cardinals  Tournon 
and  Grammont,  to  hasten  with  the  documents  bearing  on 
the  forthcoming  nuptials  of  Caterina  de'  Medici,  titular 
Duchess  of  Urbino,  with  Henri  de  Valois,  Duke  of 
Orleans,  second  son  of  King  Francis  I.  Much  to  his 
surprise  and  annoyance,  Charles  perceived  too  late  that 
his  rival  of  France  was  desperately  in  earnest,  whilst  his 
contemptuous  hatred  of  Clement  must  have  been  im- 
measurably increased,  when  he  learned  of  the  Pope's 
intention  to  preside  in  person  at  the  approaching  wedding 
festivities  at  Marseilles,  which  had  by  mutual  consent  of 
King  and  Pontiff  been  fixed  upon  as  a  convenient  spot 
for  the  important  event. 

Early  in  September,  1533,  Catherine  prepared  to  leave 
Florence,  where  she  was  then  residing,  in  order  to  pro- 
ceed on  her  journey  to  France.  Attended  by  her  uncle- 

22 


338  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

in-law,  the  brilliant  but  dissolute  Filippo  Strozzi1  and  by 
her  cousins  Palla  Rucellai  and  Maria  Salviati,  she  made 
her  way  to  Porto  Venere  on  the  Tuscan  coast,  and 
thence  taking  ship  after  a  week's  voyage  she  disembarked 
at  Nice,  there  to  await  news  of  the  coming  of  the 
Pope.  Clement  meanwhile  had  set  out  from  Rome,  and 
sailing  from  the  mouth  of  the  Arno  in  the  first  week  of 
October,  reached  Marseilles  on  the  eleventh  day  of  that 
month.  At  this  port  Francis  and  his  court  had  already 
arrived  some  days  previously  in  order  to  do  honour  to 
the  expected  bride  and  to  the  presence  of  His  Holiness, 
the  approach  of  whose  flotilla  was  duly  reported  to  those 
on  shore  by  watchers  posted  on  the  towers  of  the  Chateau 
d'If.  Stepping  on  to  the  quay  at  Marseilles,  Clement 
was  received  in  solemn  form  by  a  deputation  of  French 
bishops,  cardinals  and  abbots ;  and  on  the  following 
morning,  which  was  a  Sunday,  the  Pope  entered  the  city 
in  full  panoply  of  state,  the  two  young  Dukes  of  Orleans 
and  of  Angoul£me  each  holding  one  of  the  Pontiffs 
hands.  On  Monday,  i3th  October,  the  King  and  Queen 
of  France  with  a  magnificent  equipage  approached  to 
welcome  their  illustrious  guest,  and  after  this  meeting  of 
Clement  and  Francis  nine  days  were  consumed  in  an 
endless  round  of  gorgeous  banquets  and  ceremonies, 
varied  by  occasional  conferences  of  a  political  nature. 
Thus  was  passed  the  interval  of  waiting  for  the  bride's 
arrival,  which  was  delayed  until  the  twenty-third  day  of 
the  month,  when  Caterina  de'  Medici,  attended  by  twelve 
maids-of-honour,  at  last  made  her  appearance.  As  at  the 
nuptials  of  Catherine's  own  father,  the  young  Lorenzo, 
Duke  of  Urbino,  the  French  court  was  deeply  impressed 

1  Husband  of  Clarice  de'  Medici  (d.   1528),  the  only  sister  of 
Lorenzo,  Duke  of  Urbino,  Catherine's  father. 


CATERINA  DK'   MEDICI,  QUEEN   OF   FRANCK 


LAST  YEARS  OF  CLEMENT  VII  339 

by  the  marvellous  ostentation  of  the  Medici,1  nor  did  any 
of  those  present  care  to  reflect  upon  the  recent  severe 
measures  of  taxation  applied  in  Rome  and  Florence,  in 
order  to  obtain  the  wherewithal  to  make  so  brave  a 
display.  On  Tuesday,  28th  October,  Clement  himself, 
to  give  greater  solemnity  and  weight  to  the  event,  per- 
formed the  ceremony  of  the  marriage  which  constituted 
his  ward  the  lawful  wife  of  the  young  Henri  de  Valois, 
Duke  of  Orleans.  As  the  bride  of  fourteen  years  old 
was  thus  united  to  the  youthful  bridegroom  of  fifteen 
amidst  all  the  pomp  incidental  to  the  wedding  of  a  scion 
of  the  royal  House  of  France,  Clement  must  have  felt 
an  exquisite  thrill  of  complete  and  satisfying  triumph 
in  the  successful  issue  of  his  restless  intriguing  ;  a  sense 
of  triumph  which  neither  past  failure  nor  present  ill-health 
nor  encroaching  age  could  at  such  a  moment  blight.  In 
truth,  the  chief  diplomatic  fruit  of  all  his  past  intrigue  and 
deceit  was  represented  by  this  political  union  of  the  great 
niece  of  Leo  X.  with  a  prince  of  France,  the  first  truly 
royal  marriage  to  which  a  Medici  had  as  yet  aspired  ;  and 
it  is  again  to  Clement's  ambition  that  the  forthcoming 
crimes  and  troubles  of  the  Medicean  Queen's  subsequent 
regency  in  France  must  indirectly  be  ascribed. 

The  unavoidable  fatigues  and  constant  excitement  of 
this  late  visit  to  the  French  court  at  Marseilles  seem  to 
have  undermined  the  waning  powers  of  the  Pontiff,  who 
survived  the  consummation  of  his  diplomatic  success 
less  then  a  twelvemonth.  Returning  from  the  shores  of 

1  A  splendid  relic  of  Clement's  liberality  towards  Francis  I.  on 
this  occasion  is  to  be  found  in  the  magnificent  casket  by  Valerio  of 
Vicenza,  preserved  in  the  Gem  Room  of  the  Uffizi  Gallery  in  Florence. 
This  beautiful  work  of  art  contains  twenty-four  panels  of  rock-crystal 
set  in  silver  gilt,  and  elaborately  engraved  with  subjects  from  the 
New  Testament.  It  bears  also  the  arms  and  papal  insignia  of  its 
donor,  Clement  VII. 


340  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

France  to  his  capital,  Clement  found  discontent  openly 
exhibited  in  Rome,  whilst  his  private  life  was  made  miser- 
able by  the  ceaseless  strife  waged  between  the  two  papal 
nephews.  For  the  martial  Ippolito  was  appearing 
anxious  to  divest  himself  of  the  purple,  so  as  to  dispute 
for  the  mastery  of  the  enthralled  Florentines  with  the 
unpopular  tyrant  already  in  possession ;  nor  could  any 
threats  or  entreaties  on  Clement's  part  terminate  the 
endless  and  unseemly  quarrels  between  the  Cardinal  and 
the  Duke  of  Florence ;  a  city  that,  for  reasons  previously 
mentioned,  the  Pope  was  determined  nevermore  to  visit. 
A  constant  dread  of  the  Imperial  vengeance  for  his  late 
alliance  with  the  French  King  likewise  haunted  the 
scheming  Pope,  who  perceived  the  Emperor  deeply 
incensed  by  the  recent  papal  policy  and  more  than  ever 
filled  with  the  idea  of  convoking  a  General  Council  of 
the  Church  to  discuss  and  settle  the  many  burning  ques- 
tions that  were  vexing  Western  Christendom.  The 
personal  quarrel  with  Henry  VIII. — once  his  warmest 
royal  supporter — over  Queen  Catherine's  divorce  pro- 
ceedings, and  the  consequent  formal  revolt  of  England 
from  the  supremacy  of  the  Holy  See,  must  also  have 
weighed  heavily  on  the  mind  of  Clement,  who  but  for 
an  ever-present  dread  of  the  Emperor  would  in  all  prob- 
ability have  granted  Henry's  petition  a  dozen  times  over 
rather  than  risk  the  catastrophe,  which  the  helpless  Pope 
was  himself,  by  the  irony  of  an  inexorable  fate,  called 
upon  to  hasten.  Yet  Clement  continued  to  the  last 
contriving,  trifling,  proposing,  prevaricating  through  all 
his  troubles,  finding  apparently  no  relaxation  from  the 
cares  wherewith  he  was  beset  save  by  creating  fresh 
embarrassments  on  all  sides. 

Harassed  on  all  sides  by  domestic  quarrelling  and  poli- 
tical difficulties,  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  that  by  the 


LAST  YEARS  OF  CLEMENT  VII  341 

summer  of  1 534  the  exhausted  Pope  was  sinking  fast  to  the 
grave,  a  prey  to  one  of  those  slow  intermittent  fevers  for 
which  the  climate  of  Rome  was  once  so  notorious.  All 
Italy,  and  indeed  all  Europe,  awaited  his  expected  end  with 
ill-concealed  satisfaction,  so  that  almost  the  only  known  in- 
stance of  regret  or  sympathy  with  the  dying  man  on  this 
occasion  came  from  a  humble  source,  namely,  from  the 
jeweller  Benvenuto  Cellini,  whom  Clement  had  patronised 
in  the  past  and  with  whom  he  not  unfrequently  deigned 
to  hold  conversation  on  artistic  matters.  During  the  last 
few  months  of  Clement's  existence,  Cellini  had  been  en- 
gaged in  preparing  and  stamping  certain  medals  for  the 
Pope,  amongst  them  one  showing  a  design  of  Moses 
striking  the  rock  to  obtain  water,  with  the  explanatory 
legend  Ut  bibat populus.  "  Having  finished  my  work," 
narrates  the  prince  of  jewellers  in  his  famous  Autobio- 
graphy, "on  22nd  September,  I  waited  on  the  Pope, 
whom  I  found  very  ill  in  bed.  Yet  he  gave  me  the 
most  kindly  reception,  telling  me  of  his  wish  to  inspect 
both  the  medals  themselves  and  the  instruments  where- 
with I  had  stamped  them.  He  ordered  his  spectacles  and 
a  candle  to  be  brought,  but  nevertheless  he  could  discern 
nothing  of  my  workmanship.  So  he  set  to  examine  the 
medals  by  the  touch  of  his  fingers,  but  after  feeling  thus 
for  some  length  of  time  he  fetched  a  deep  sigh,  and  told 
one  of  the  courtiers  he  was  sorry  for  me,  but  if  it  pleased 
God  to  restore  his  health,  he  would  make  me  a  satis- 
factory payment.  Three  days  later  he  died,  and  I  had 
only  my  labour  for  my  pains.  I  took  courage  notwith- 
standing, comforting  myself  with  the  thought  that  I  had 
acquired  so  much  renown  by  means  of  these  medals,  that 
I  might  depend  on  future  employment  from  the  next 
Pope,  and  perhaps  with  better  results.  By  such  re- 
flections did  I  prevent  myself  from  feeling  dejected." 


342  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Proceeding  with  this  account  of  his  private  affairs, 
Cellini  adds  that  some  days  later,  on  the  occasion  of 
Clement's  lying-in-state,  he  "put  on  his  sword  and  re- 
paired to  St.  Peter's,  where  he  kissed  the  feet  of  the 
deceased  Pontiff,  nor  could  he  refrain  from  tears  "-1 

This  curious  expression  of  modified  sorrow  exhibited 
by  Cellini  for  his  late  patron  stands,  however,  almost  alone 
amidst  the  universal  outburst  of  relief  and  jubilation  at 
the  news  of  the  long-desired  death  of  the  despised  and 
discredited  Medici,  which  occurred  on  25th  September, 
1534,  in  the  fifty-seventh  year  of  his  age  and  after  a  reign 
of  ten  years  and  ten  months.  "  The  joy  at  Rome  is  two- 
fold," writes  Gregory  of  Casale  three  weeks  later  to  the 
Duke  of  Norfolk,  "the  election  of  the  new  Pope  (Ales- 
sandro  Farnese,  Paul  III.)  and  the  death  of  the  old  one 
being  alike  cause  of  rejoicing."2  Nor  was  this  bitterness 
of  feeling  limited  to  mere  verbal  execration,  for  the 
Roman  populace  made  efforts  each  night  to  pollute  or 
deface  Clement's  temporary  tomb  in  St.  Peter's.  Several 
times  in  the  morning  was  the  pontifical  monument  found 
smeared  with  filth ;  whilst  on  one  occasion  some  vindic- 
tive wag  during  the  night  hours  contrived  to  alter  the 
lettering  of  the  inscription,  by  substituting  the  words 
"  Inclemens  Pontifex  Minimus"  for  the  proud  title 
"Clemens  Pontifex  Maximus,"  besides  making  other 
changes  of  a  derogatory  nature  in  the  late  Pope's  epitaph. 
It  was  even  planned  by  some  indignant  Romans  to  drag 
the  corpse  itself  from  its  coffin  and  draw  it  ignominiously 
with  a  hook  through  the  streets  of  the  city  ;  an  intended 
insult  that  was  only  averted  by  the  prompt  action  of  the 
Cardinal  Ippolito  de'  Medici  who  set  a  strong  guard  over 
the  tomb,  so  long  as  the  lawless  interval  during  the  sitting 

1  Vita  di  B.  Cellini. 

2  State  Papers  of  Henry\  VIII.,  vol.  vii.,  p.  373. 


LAST  YEARS  OF  CLEMENT  VII  343 

of  the  conclave  lasted.  The  election  of  the  Farnese 
Pontiff  naturally  restored  order  in  Rome,  so  that  the  re- 
mains of  Paul  III.'s  unpopular  predecessor  were  hence- 
forward at  least  allowed  to  rest  undisturbed,  until  their 
removal  to  the  choir  of  the  Church  of  Santa  Mariasopra 
Minerva,  which  already  contained  the  ashes  of  Leo  X. 
Not  many  years  later  was  raised  on  this  spot  the  ponder- 
ous but  unlovely  monument,  the  work  of  Antonio  da 
San  Gallo  and  Baccio  Bandinelli  of  Florence,  which 
commemorates  in  imperishable  marble  "this  weak  and 
clumsy  disciple  of  the  principles  inculcated  by  Machia- 
velli's  Prince"^  Giulio,  bastard  son  of  Giuliano  de' 
Medici,  Pope  Clement  VII. 

It  is  a  general  maxim  of  history  that  those  sove- 
reigns or  exalted  personages  who  have  signally  failed  in 
their  public  careers  should  be  invariably  regarded  by 
posterity  with  a  greater  measure  of  interest  and  sympathy, 
from  the  very  circumstance  of  their  misfortunes.  And 
with  regard  to  this  statement,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  cite 
from  our  own  annals  the  striking  examples  of  the 
scholar-saint  Henry  VI.,  of  Queen  Mary  of  Scotland  and 
of  the  still-idolised  Charles  Stuart.  But  to  this  general 
rule  Giulio  de'  Medici,  Clement  VII.,  offers  a  notable 
exception.  For  although  the  second  Medicean  Pope  was 
perhaps  the  most  unfortunate  of  all  the  Roman  Pontiffs, 
and  although  his  disastrous  reign  belonged  to  a  picturesque 
and  turbulent  age,  the  historian  cannot  obtain  the  smallest 
amount  of  satisfaction  or  interest  from  a  close  contem- 
plation of  his  private  character.  Indeed,  few  persons 
have  perhaps  been  detested  or  reviled  by  mankind  with 
better  reason  than  this  papal  bastard  of  the  House  of 
Medici ;  this  cold,  cunning,  calculating  Pontiff,  who  was 
the  indirect  cause  of  the  Sack  of  Rome,  the  patron  of  the 

1  Gregorovius,  Tombs  of  the  Popes. 


344  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

odious  Duke  Alessandro,  the  pitiless  destroyer  of  the 
liberties  of  Florence.  Yet  in  reality  the  man,  as  we  have 
already  shown,  was  not  without  his  virtues,  since  he  was 
frugal,  industrious,  serious  ;  singularly  free,  in  short,  from 
those  failings  which  have  been  so  properly  censured  in 
the  case  of  his  cousin,  Leo  X.  Nevertheless,  the  very 
absence  in  Clement  of  the  frivolity,  the  extravagance  and 
the  idleness  of  the  splendid  Leo  seems  scarcely  to  be 
accounted  commendable,  when  we  reflect  upon  the  chill 
indifference  of  his  natural  disposition,  his  parsimony  and 
avarice,  and  that  perpetual  selfish  scheming,  which  was 
ever  adding  new  troubles  and  turmoils  to  the  existing 
evils  of  the  age.  A  comparison  between  Leo  X.  and 
Clement  VII.,  drawn  from  a  perusal  of  these  pages, 
ought  to  exhibit  clearly  the  reasons  why  the  former,  in 
spite  of  his  faults  and  even  his  misdeeds,  was  sincerely 
mourned  at  his  death ;  whereas  the  latter  sank,  loathed, 
despised  and  dishonoured  into  a  tomb  whereon  the  in- 
dignant and  outraged  populace  of  Rome  endeavoured  to 
wreak  a  posthumous  vengeance. 

It  is  difficult  to  palliate  or  to  suggest  any  reasonable 
excuse  for  the  conduct  and  character  of  Clement,  beyond 
quoting  Ranke's  expressive  phrase,  that  he  was  "the 
very  sport  of  misfortune,  without  doubt  the  most  ill-fated 
Pontiff  that  ever  sat  on  the  papal  throne  ".  No  one  can 
extend  a  jot  of  sympathy  to  this  callous  adventurer,  who 
by  ceaseless  intriguing  rose  to  be  created  a  cardinal  and 
later  to  be  elected  Supreme  Pontiff,  and  whom  a  General 
Council  of  the  Church,  sincerely  bent  on  religious  reform, 
would  have  promptly  deposed.  Cautious,  scheming, 
shuffling,  selfish,  suspicious,  mean,  heartless,  insincere, 
untruthful — such  was  Clement  VII. ;  and  it  only  remains 
to  add  that  on  occasions  this  repellent  personage  could 
show  himself  guilty  of  the  most  vindictive  and  ferocious 


LAST  YEARS  OF  CLEMENT  VII  345 

cruelty ; — as  in  the  case  of  the  helpless  monk,  Benedetto 
da  Fojano,  who  for  taking  an  active  part  in  the  defence 
of  Florence  was  thrust  into  a  filthy  dungeon  of  the  castle 
of  Sant'  Angelo  and  there  slowly  and  deliberately  starved 
to  death  by  Clement's  expressed  desire.  History  can 
afford  many  examples  of  princes  or  private  persons  who 
were  monsters  of  crime  or  vice,  but  it  can  scarcely  exhibit 
another  character  more  worthy  of  oblivion  than  the 
cowardly  tyrant,  whom  the  haughty  Clarice  Strozzi,  the 
niece  of  Leo  X.,  had  once  openly  denounced  as  an  in- 
truder into  the  august  House  of  Medici.  For  it  was 
during  the  brief  moment  of  the  Florentine  Republic's 
triumph  in  the  spring  of  1527,  when  Clement  was  being 
held  a  prisoner  in  Sant'  Angelo,  that  the  impetuous 
Clarice,  urged  to  use  her  influence  to  save  from  the  angry 
mob  the  trembling  Ippolito  and  Alessandro  with  their 
guardian  Cardinal  Passerini,  had  hastened  to  the  ancient 
palace  in  Via  Larga  and  there  had  openly  expressed  her 
contemptuous  denial  of  any  relationship  between  herself 
and  the  three  bastards  bearing  her  family  name,  the  two 
cowering  youths  before  her  and  the  absent  Pontiff 

"  Standing  in  the  vast  corridor  of  the  palace,"  narrates 
the  Florentine  historian  Bernardo  Segni,  "did  she  pour 
forth  her  scorn  of  these  spurious  scions  of  her  House, 
saying,  '  You  show  plainly  what  is  already  known,  that  you 
are  not  of  the  blood  of  the  Medici ;  and  not  only  you,  but 
also  Pope  Clement,  wrongfully  a  Pope  and  now  most 
righteously  a  prisoner  in  Sant'  Angelo ! ' '  Reflecting 
on  Clarice's  fiery  speech  and  on  Clement's  despicable 
character  and  inglorious  reign,  we  are  led  to  feel  both 
surprise  and  regret  that  in  his  hour  of  complete  victory 
the  Emperor  Charles  V.  did  not  depose  and  remove 
this  papal  impostor  from  the  scene  of  his  late  misdeeds  to 
some  secure  and  remote  fortress,  where,  deprived  of  his 


346  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

ill-gotten  honours  and  powerless  to  vex  henceforth  the 
peace  of  Italy  and  of  Europe,  this  Medicean  bastard 
might  have  found  time  to  meditate  upon  and  to  repent 
of  the  appalling  mischief  he  had  already  wrought  in  the 
brief  interval  of  three  years  between  his  election  and  the 
Sack  of  Rome. 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE  LATER  MEDICI  POPES 

ATER  the  death  of  Clement  VII.  the  illustrious 
name  of  Medici  occurs  twice  in  the  annals  of 
the  Papacy,  but  in  both  cases  it  was  borne  by 
Pontiffs  who  were  very  distantly  connected  with  the  senior 
branch  of  the  Florentine  House  that  produced  Leo  X. 

The  former  of  these  is  Gian-Angelo,  younger  son  of 
Bernardino  Medici  of  Milan,  who  was  elected  Pope  on 
Christmas  Eve,  1559,  under  the  title  of  Pius  IV.,  and 
reigned  for  nearly  six  years,  his  pontificate  being  dis- 
tinguished, amongst  other  events  of  importance,  by  the 
closing  of  the  protracted  sittings  of  the  Council  of  Trent. 
Pius  IV.,  "who  was  a  man  of  worldly  instincts,  a  lover 
of  the  good  things  of  this  life,"1  but  who  ever  showed 
himself  moderate  and  conciliatory  in  his  political  dealings, 
is  said  to  have  been  of  humble  birth.  Nevertheless,  the 
Pope's  forefathers  claimed,  on  very  doubtful  grounds,  to 
be  descendants  of  one  Giambuono  de'  Medici  of  Flor- 
ence,2 in  the  thirteenth  century,  who  is  supposed  to  have 
migrated  to  Milan.  Both  the  sons  of  Bernardino  were 
successful  in  life,  for  the  elder,  Gian-Giacomo,  was  created 
Marquis  of  Melegnano  by  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  whilst 
the  younger,  Gian-Angelo,  as  we  have  said,  attained  to 
the  pontifical  throne.  Pius  IV.  is  celebrated,  moreover, 

1  Gregorovius,  Tombs  of  the  Popes. 

2  Belviglieri,  Tavole  Sincrone  e  Genealogiche,  etc. 

347 


348  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

as  the  uncle  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  the  son  of  his  only 
sister,  whom  this  Pope  raised  to  the  purple  at  the  early 
age  of  twenty-two.  After  his  decease  on  loth  December, 
1565,  Pius  IV.  was  interred  in  the  great  Roman  church 
of  Santa  Maria  degli  Angeli,  wherein  he  possesses  no 
monument  other  than  a  simple  tablet :  a  circumstance 
that  may  be  fairly  attributed  to  the  manifest  humility  and 
hatred  of  pomp  ever  shown  by  his  favoured  nephew,  St. 
Charles  Borromeo,  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Milan. 

But  if  Pius  IV.  possessed  nothing  save  his  family 
name  to  link  his  personality  with  the  city  of  Florence, 
the  fourth  and  last  Medici  Pope,  Leo  XL,  was  at  least  a 
Florentine  by  birth  and  a  true  descendant  of  a  collateral 
branch  of  that  great  House.  For  he  was  one  of  the  sons 
of  Ottaviano  de'  Medici,  dwelling  in  a  palace  near  the 
famous  convent  of  San  Marco  and  for  many  years  a 
favourite  both  with  Clement  VII.  and  the  worthless 
Duke  Alessandro,  who  had  entrusted  their  distant  kins- 
man with  the  administration  of  the  vast  estates  of  the 
Medici  throughout  Tuscany.  Of  Ottaviano's  children, 
the  eldest  son,  Bernardetto,  espoused  Giuliade'  Medici,  the 
natural  daughter  of  his  father's  patron,  Duke  Alessandro, 
and  eventually  was  invested  with  the  lordship  of  Ottajano 
in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  where  his  descendants  are  still 
flourishing.  The  younger  brother,  Alessandro,  being 
"pious,  learned  and  most  energetic,"1  was  devoted  to  the 
service  of  the  Church,  wherein  he  quickly  rose  to  positions 
of  wealth  and  eminence.  Highly  favoured  by  the  Grand- 
Ducal  family  of  Tuscany,  Alessandro  was  appointed 
Archbishop  of  Florence  and  was  created  a  cardinal, 
whilst  it  was  through  his  bounty  that  the  official  residence 
of  the  Florentine  Archbishops,  facing  the  ancient  Baptis- 
tery, was  greatly  altered  and  enlarged ;  a  fact  which  is 

1  Ranke,  History  of  the  Popes,  vol.  i. 


THE  LATER  MEDICI  POPES  349 

commemorated  by  the  fine  escutcheon  in  polychrome  now 
affixed  to  the  north-eastern  angle  of  the  present  palace. 

At  the  death  of  Clement  VIII.  in  the  spring  of 
1605,  on  ist  April  the  Cardinal  Alessandro  de'  Medici 
was  elected  Pope  to  the  exorbitant  joy  of  the  French 
court,  Henry  IV.  ordering  salvoes  of  artillery  to  be 
fired  on  the  receipt  of  the  tidings  from  Rome.  But  this 
outburst  of  satisfaction  in  France  was  fated  to  be  of  brief 
duration.  The  new  Pontiff,  who  probably  out  of  com- 
pliment to  the  first  fortunate  and  resplendent  Pope  of 
his  House,  assumed  the  title  of  Leo  XL,  had  already 
entered  his  seventieth  year  and  was  suffering  from  an 
incurable  malady.  The  excitement  of  the  conclave  and 
the  fatigue  of  the  lengthy  ceremonies  served  to  diminish 
his  remaining  strength,  so  that  at  his  own  coronation  he 
contracted  a  feverish  chill  which  produced  a  fatal  result 
on  27th  April.  Leo  XL's  reign,  one  of  the  shortest 
in  papal  annals,  lasted  therefore  but  twenty-six  days, 
whilst  his  sudden  decease  caused  no  small  degree  of 
disappointment  at  the  courts  of  Paris  and  Florence, 
where  high  hopes  had  been  entertained  of  the  newly- 
elected  Medici's  foreign  policy.  But  although  Leo's 
death  was  sincerely  deplored  both  in  France  and  in 
Tuscany,  "  no  one,"  quaintly  observes  an  old  English 
translator  of  the  Vite  dei  Pontefici^  "  had  so  much  reason 
to  lament  his  loss  as  his  own  family,  who  had  not  the 
time  to  receive  the  honours  designed  for  them,  and 
particularly  his  great-nephew  Ottaviano  de'  Medici,  on 
whom  Leo  intended  to  bestow  his  own  Cardinal's  hat". 
Indeed,  it  is  not  difficult  to  believe  in  the  genuine  regret 
of  the  short-lived  Pontiffs  expectant  but  now  dejected 
relations. 

1  The  Lives  of  the  Popes.  From  the  Latin  of  Baptista  Platina 
and  others.  Translated  by  Paul  Rycaut,  London,  1685. 


3so  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

Leo  XL's  fine  monument  by  Algardi  with  its  stately 
allegorical  figures  of  Minerva  and  of  Abundance  adorns 
the  northern  aisle  of  St.  Peter's.  If  it  appear  peculiar 
to  the  inquiring  stranger  that  so  vast  a  memorial  should 
have  been  erected  to  a  Pontiff  who  reigned  for  less  than 
a  month's  space,  let  such  an  one  draw  a  lesson  from  the 
sculptured  garlands  that  decorate  this  papal  tomb,  for 
they  speak  eloquently  of  the  brevity  and  variableness  of 
all  earthly  honours,  even  the  hardest  won  and  the  best 
deserved.  Sic  florui,  such  is  the  terse  motto  borne  by 
the  blossoming  wreaths  on  Leo's  sepulchre,  which  deli- 
cately conveys  thus  the  ancient  warning  of  the  Psalmist 
that  "  the  days  of  Man  are  but  as  grass  ;  for  he  flourished! 
as  a  flower  of  the  field  ". 


APPENDIX 

LEON.  X.  PONT.  MAX.  IAMBICI1 
In  Liicretiae  Statuam 

Libenter  occumbo  ;  mea  in  praecordia 
Adactum  habens  ferrum ;  juvat  mea  manu 
It  praestitisse,  quod  Viraginum  prius 
Nulla  ob  pudicitiam  peregit  promptius. 
Juvat  cruorem  contueri  proprium, 
Illumque  verbis  execrari  asperrimis. 

Sanguen  mi  acerbius  veneno  colchico 
Ex  quo  canis  Stygius,  vel  Hydra  praeferox 
Artus  meos  compegit  in  poenam  asperam ; 
Lues  flue,  ac  vetus  reverte  in  toxicum. 
Tabes  amara  exi,  mihi  invisa  et  gravis, 
Quod  feceris  corpus  nitidum  et  amabile. 

Nee  interim  suas  monet  Lucretia 
Civeis,  pudore  et  castitate  semper  ut 
Sint  praeditae,  fidemque  servant  integram 
Suis  maritis,  cum  sit  haec  Mavortii 
Laus  magna  populi,  ut  castitate  foeminae 
Laetentur,  et  viris  mage  iste  gloria 
Placere  studeant,  quam  nitere  et  gratia. 
Quin  id  probasse  caede  vel  mea  gravi 
Lubet,  statim  animum  purum  opertere  extrahi 
Ab  inquinati  corporis  custodia. 

1  Lines  addressed  to  an  antique  statue  of  Lucretia,  unearthed  in  the 
Trastevere  of  Rome,  by  Cardinal  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  afterwards 
Pope  Leo  X.  (Roscoe,  vol.  ii.,  Appendix  XCVIII.) 

351 


352  THE  MEDICI  POPES 

{Lucre tia  speaks,  after  driving  the  dagger  into  her  breast ;) 

Gladly  I  fall  to  earth,  the  cruel  steel 

Driv'n  to  my  heart ;  and  yet  I  find  delight 

In  this  self- slaughter,  since  it  needs  must  prove 

That  none  was  ever  shown  more  prompt  than  I. 

With  joyful  eyes  I  mark  my  life-blood  flow, 

And  curse  the  crimson  stream  with  scathing  words. 

O  Blood  of  mine,  more  hateful  than  the  drugs 
Which  Cerberus  or  Hydra  can  produce, 
Depart  all-tainted  to  thine  ancient  source  ! 
Hence  bitter-sweet  and  vile  disease  of  Life, 
That  once  did  fill  my  frame  with  comeliness ! 

Thus  doth  your  Lucrece  warn  her  happier  peers 
Ever  to  bide  in  purity  and  grace, 
And  ever  hold  intact  the  marriage  vow. 
For  is  it  not  the  chiefest  boast  of  Rome 
That  all  her  matrons  walk  in  Virtue's  path, 
Seeking  to  rule  their  lords  by  chastity, 
And  not  by  beauty  or  the  art  to  please  ? 
Thus  am  I  willing  by  mine  own  sad  end 
To  preach  this  lesson ; — that  the  faithful  soul 
Must  not  survive  in  the  polluted  clay. 


INDEX 


ACADEMY,  Roman,  163,  168. 

Accolti,  Bernardo,  164-166,  207. 

Actaeon,  206. 

Adonis,  209. 

Adrian,  Cardinal  of  Corneto,  248,  251, 

252,  254. 
Adrian  VI.,  Pope  (Adrian  of  Utrecht), 

248,  256,  286-288,  291,  294,  295. 
.<Eneas,  205. 
Alamanni,  Piero,  15. 
Albizzi,  family  of,  92. 
Albizzi,  Francesco,  95. 
Alborese,  Cardinal,  106. 
Alexander  the  Great,  35,  190. 
Alexander  VI.,  Pope  (Roderigo  Borgia), 

13,  20,  34-36,  47,  49,  118,  204,  319. 
Alfonso,  Cardinal  of  Portugal,  256. 
Alidosi,  Cardinal,  64,  65,  158. 
Altoviti,  family  of,  183. 
Amboise,  Cardinal  d',  60. 
Ammirato,  Scipione,  97,  156. 
Anchises,  225. 

Angelico,  Fra,  16,  276,  277,  281. 
Angouleme,  Duke  of,  338. 
Antonio  da  San  Marco,  121. 
Apollo,  in,  205,  207. 
Aragon,  Cardinal  of,  106, 113,  180,  189, 

191. 

Aretino,  Pietro,  139,  148,  167,  200. 
Ariadne,  180. 
Ariosto,  Ludovico,   163-166,  175,  178- 

180,  185,  207. 
Aristotle,  37. 
Arnolfo  di  Cambio,  3. 

BAGLIONI,  Gian-Paolo,  59. 

Baglioni,  Malatesta,  328. 

Bainbridge,  Cardinal  Christopher,  245. 

Bale,  John,  280,  281. 

Balue,  Cardinal  de,  13. 

Bandinelli,  Baccio,  145,  154,  275,  343. 

Baraballo,  169-171,  217. 

Barcelona,  treaty  of,  326. 

Barile,  Giovanni,  171,  229. 

Bartolommeo,  Fra,  174. 


Bembo,  Pietro,  138,  146,  148,  156,  164, 
165,  207,  208,  211,  227,233,239,  276, 
281. 

Benedetto  da  Fojano,  Fra,  345. 

Benedetto  da  Rovezzano,  93. 

Bentivoglio  of  Bologna,  41,  60. 

Bernini,  262. 

Beroaldo,  166. 

Bibbiena,  Cardinal  of,  see  Dovizi. 

Boccamazzo,  Domenico,  197,  198,  200. 

Boissy,  Adrian  de,  152. 

Boniface  VIII.,  Pope,  117,  272,  322. 

Bonner,  Dr.  Edmund,  334,  335. 

Borgia,  Caesar,  50,  56. 

Borgia,  Lucrezia,  124. 

Borgia,  Roderigo,  see  Alexander  VI. 

Borromeo,  St.  Charles,  348. 

Boscoli,  98. 

Bossi,  Count  Luigi,  213. 

Bosso,  Matteo,  17. 

Bourbon,  Cardinal  Louis  de,  256. 

Bourbon,  Constable  of  France,  140, 
300,  309,  312-318,  322. 

Bramante,  173,  220,  221,  231,  237. 

Brand,  John,  214. 

Brandolini,  Raffaele,  167,  168. 

Buonarotti,  see  Michelangelo. 

Buoninsegni,  Domenico,  297. 

CABOT,  Sebastian,  33. 

Cajetan,  Cardinal  (Tommaso  de  Vio), 

256,  321. 

Calabria,  Duke  of,  40. 
Calcio,  game  of,  32. 
Cambi,  155. 

Canossa,  Ludovico  da,  148,  149. 
Caradosso,  216. 

Caraffa,  Cardinal  Oliviero,  20,  34. 
Cardona,  Raymond  of,  66,  68,  69,  81, 

82,  86,  89,  92,  140. 
Carvajal,  Cardinal,  73,  100. 
Cassandra,  225. 
Cast'glione,    Count     Baldassare,    157, 

181,  207,  220,  241,  258. 
Catherine  of  Aragon,  325,  340. 


353 


354 


THE  MEDICI  POPES 


Cellini,  Benvenuto,  94,  153,  293,  298- 
302,  316,  317,  323,  341,  342. 

Cesarini,  Gian-Giorgio,  135. 

Charlemagne,  153,  225. 

Charles  VIII.  of  France,  39,  40,  44,  45, 
129,  139. 

Charles  V.,  Emperor,  134,  157,  256, 
266,  267,  286,  291,  307-309,  312, 

324,  325-327.  331-333,  336,  337.  34°, 
345,  347. 

Chigi,  Agostino,  120,  187,  188,  234, 
238,  240. 

CLEMENT  VII.,  Pope  (Giulio  di 
Giuliano  de1  Medici),  Career  of: 
Natural  son  of  Giuliano  the  Elder, 
7  ;  his  education  with  his  cousins,  7  ; 
is  enrolled  amongst  the  Knights  of 
Rhodes,  but  prefers  an  ecclesiastical 
career,  46;  attaches  himself  to  his 
cousin  Giovanni  (afterwards  Pope 
Leo  X.),  46  ;  travels  in  Germany  and 
France,  47,  48 ;  meets  at  Savona 
with  the  future  Julius  II.,  49  ;  resides 
with  his  cousin  Giovanni  at  Rome, 
53»  54 !  his  escape  at  the  battle  of 
Ravenna,  70;  is  entrusted  with  an 
important  mission  to  Julius  II.  in 
Rome,  71 ;  is  sent  by  the  Pope  to 
Milan,  73  ;  plays  a  conspicuous  part 
in  the  restoration  of  the  Medici  to 
Florence,  82,  91 ;  rides  in  the  capacity 
of  a  Knight  of  Rhodes  in  the  pro- 
cession of  Leo  X.,  122  ;  meets  Francis 
I.  at  the  gates  of  Bologna,  150; 
attends  Leo's  hunting-parties,  207 ; 
he  is  nominated  Archbishop  of 
Florence,  246 ;  is  declared  legitimate 
by  Leo  X.,  and  is  created  a  Cardinal, 
247 ;  Guicciardini's  criticism  of  his 
character,  247  ;  he  is  sent  by  Leo  to 
settle  the  affairs  of  Florence,  261- 
263  ;  his  growing  influence  over  Leo 
X.,  265,  266;  he  is  absent  with  the 
Imperial  army  at  the  time  of  Leo's 
death,  268  ;  he  is  disappointed  by  the 
result  of  the  conclave,  285,  286  ;  he 
returns  to  Florence,  287 ;  but  is 
speedily  recalled  to  Rome  by  Adrian 
VI.,  288;  he  is  elected  Pope  under 
the  title  of  Clement  VII.  in  the 
ensuing  conclave,  289-291  ;  his  per- 
sonal appearance  and  manners,  292 ; 
his  past  patronage  of  Raphael,  293, 
294 ;  he  commands  the  decoration  of 
the  Hall  of  Constantine  in  the  Vati- 
can, 295-297 ;  his  curious  emblem, 
297 ;  his  patronage  of  Benvenuto 
Cellini,  298-302;  of  Michelangelo, 


302-306  ;  his  tortuous  and  mistaken 
policy,  306-309 ;  his  critical  position 
after  the  battle  of  Pavia,  310-313  ; 
his  timid  behaviour  before  the  siege 
and  sack  of  Rome,  314,  315;  his 
flight  to  the  Castle  of  Sant'  Angelo, 
318,  319;  his  miserable  plight  and 
final  capitulation  to  the  Emperor, 
322-324;  his  escape  to  Orvieto,  324  ; 
receives  an  important  embassy  from 
Henry  VIII.  of  England  at  Orvieto, 
325,  326 ;  his  alliance  with  Charles 
V.  and  Francis  I.,  326  ;  he  crowns 
Charles  V.  at  Bologna,  327 ;  recovers 
possession  of  Florence,  328  ;  his  atti- 
tude towards  Alessandro  and  Ippolito 
de'  Medici,  329,  330 ;  his  de\-otion 
for  the  former,  331-333 ;  his  matri- 
monial schemes  for  Caterina  de' 
Medici,  333,  334;  holds  a  second 
conference  with  Charles  V.  at 
Bologna,  334-336 ;  results  of  the 
meeting,  337  ;  attends  the  wedding 
of  Catherine  with  Henry  Duke  of 
Orleans  at  Marseilles,  338,  339  ;  finds 
domestic  feuds  on  his  return  to  Rome, 
340 ;  his  intercourse  with  Benvenuto 
Cellini,  341 ;  his  death  in  Rome  and 
the  universal  joy  thereat,  342  ;  his 
monument  in  Santa  Maria  sopra 
Minerva,  343 ;  estimate  of  his 
character,  343-346. 

Clement  VIII.,  Pope,  349. 

Colonna,  family  of,  117,  309,  312,  316, 

3*7- 

Colonna,  Fabrizio,  66,  69,  123. 
Colonna,  Cardinal  Giovanni,  34. 
Colonna,  Cardinal   Pompeo,   71,    257, 

289,  309,  322. 
Colonna,  Vittoria,  267. 
Commodus,  211. 
Conclave  of  1492,  34,  35. 
Conclave  of  1503,  49,  50. 
Conclave  of  1513,  105-108. 
Conclave  of  1522,  285,  286. 
Conclave  of  1523,  288-290. 
Condivi,  305. 

Constantine,  118,  226,  296. 
Cornaro,  Cardinal,  187,  189,  197,  208, 

209. 

Council  of  Lateran,  72,  119,  258. 
Council  of  Pisa  and   Milan  (Concilia- 

bulo),  68,  73,  81. 
Creighton,  Bishop  Mandell,  134. 
Cromwell,  Thomas,  335. 
Cupid,  181,  233,  234. 
Cybo,  Francesco,  13,  49,  252. 
Cybo,  Giambattista,  see  Innocent  VIII. 


INDEX 


355 


Cybo,    Cardinal    Innocenzo,    179,    189, 

igi,  204,  207,  240,  243,  246. 
Cybo,  Cardinal  Lorenzo,  20,  36. 

DANDOLO,  Matteo,  197. 

Dante,  202. 

Delia  Rovere,  Francesco,  see  Sixtus  IV. 

Delia  Rovere,  Francesco-Maria,  see 
Urbino,  Duke  of. 

Delia  Rovere,  Giulio,  see  Julius  II. 

Delia  Robbia,  Luca,  232. 

Demetrius  of  Chalcedon,  161. 

Diana,  206. 

Donatello,  86,  145,  242. 

Dovizi,  Cardinal  Bernardo  da  Bibbiena, 
X4>  53>  82,  106,  138,  142,  143,  175, 
176,  185,  186,  188,  189,  191,207,  226, 
227,  233,  234,  240,  245,  247,  258. 

Duprat,  Chancellor  of  France,  148,  152. 

EGIDIUS  of  Viterbo,  77,  256. 
Elizabeth,  Duchess  of  Urbino,  155. 
Emblems  of  the  Medici  family,  18,  97, 

122,  230. 

Erasmus,  61,  166,  167. 
Este,  Alfonso,  Duke  of  Ferrara,  63,  67, 

69,  72,  101,  124,  149,  152,  311. 
Este,  Beatrice,  48. 
Este,  Ferrante,  185. 
Este,  Cardinal  Ippolito,  89,  106,  189. 
Este,  Isabella,  Marchioness  of  Mantua, 

76,  176,  185-191,  315,  316. 

FABRONI,  Angelo,  10. 

Falloppio  of  Modena,  208. 

Farnese,  Cardinal  Alessandro  (after- 
wards Pope  Paul  III.),  108,  113,  193, 
201,  204,  205,  2.S6'28g,  300,  342,  343. 

Farnese,  Pier-Luigi,  203,  ^05. 

Ferdinand,  King  of  Naples,  35,  38,  40. 

Ferdinand  the  Catholic,  King  of  Spain, 
79,  81,  134,  140,  151,  156,  157. 

Ferruccio,  Federigo,  327. 

Fetti,  Fra  Mariano,  173,  174,  179,  186, 
199,  205,  209,  270,  271. 

Ficino,  Marsilio,  7,  18. 

Filiberta  of  Savoy,  138. 

Fleurange,  Seigneur  de,  260. 

Flodden,  battle  of,  137. 

Foxe,  Dr.  Edward,  325. 

Fracastoro,  164. 

France,  Mary  Tudor,  Queen  of,  138. 

Franciotto,  Cardinal,  53,  54. 

Francis  I.,  King  of  France,  129, 138-141, 
148,  150-152,  154,  225,  252,  259,  266, 
267,  271,  273,  286,  291,  302,  307,  308, 
326,  334,  337-339- 

Frangipani,  family  of,  117. 


Fredis,  Felice  de',  153,  154. 
Frosinone,  battle  of,  311,  312. 
Frundsberg,  Georg  von,  310-313. 

GAETANI,  family  of,  117. 

Gardiner,  Dr.  Stephen,  325. 

Gaston  de  Foix,  67,  69,  70,  139. 

Gavinana,  battle  of,  327. 

Gheri,  Goro,  260. 

Giacomo  da  Brescia,  105. 

Giacomo  del  Duca,  136. 

Gian-Battista  da  Vercelli,  249,  254. 

Giberti,  Matteo,  311. 

Giorgi,  Marino,  142,  143. 

Gonsalvo  da  Cordova,  50. 

Gonzaga,  Cardinal  Ercole,  316. 

Gonzaga,  Federigo,  70. 

Gonzaga,    Cardinal    Ghismondo,    106, 

108. 
Gonzaga,  Marquis  of  Mantua,  46,  76, 

185- 

Gorini,  Simonetta,  246. 
Gozzoli,  Benozzo,  5. 
Gradasso  da  Norcia,  296. 
Grammont,  Cardinal,  337. 
Grapaldo  of  Parma,  206. 
Grassis,  Paris  de,  101,    113,  119,    150, 

196,  236,  268,  269,  282. 
Gregory  VII.,  Pope,  133. 
Gregory  of  Casale,  326,  342. 
Guasti,  Cesare,  89. 
Guicciardini,  Francesco,  103,  109,  141, 

163,  166,  167,  247,  254,  280,  283,  289, 

291. 

HADRIAN,  318,  323. 

Henry  IV.,  King  of  France,  349. 

Henry  VII.,    King    of    England,  134, 

270. 
Henry   VIII.,    King   of  England,  134, 

137,  138,  166,  286,  291,325,  333,  334, 

34°- 

Hercules.  145,  180. 
Horace,  165. 

INGHIRAMI,  Tommaso,  53. 

Innocent  III.,  Pope,  118. 

Innocent  VIII.,  Pope,   12-16,    21,   34, 

194,  246. 

Isabella,  Duchess  of  Milan,  48. 
Isimbardi,  Ottaviano,  74,  75,  77. 
lulus,  225. 

JAMES  IV.,  King  of  Scotland,  137. 

Jews  of  Rome,  125,  321. 

Jovius  (Paolo  Giovio),  4,  49,  53,  66,  67, 

77,  170,  178,  199,  203,  209,  213,  271, 

280,  297,  317,  319. 


356 


THE  MEDICI  POPES 


Julius  II.,  Pope  (Giuliano  Delia 
Rovere),  20,  35,  49,  50,  55-58,  60-64, 
79,  82,  91,  100-104,  194,  216,  221, 
222,  227,  228,  254,  255,  267,  282,  292, 
304,  321. 

LANCETTO,  208,  209. 

Landsknechts,  310-313,  319,  320. 

Landu:ci   Luca,  18,  43,  no,  146,  147. 

Lanfredini,  13. 

Lang,  Cardinal  Matthew,  81,  98. 

Lannoy,  310,  311,  313. 

Lanzi,  232,  233. 

Laocoon,  the,  153,  154. 

La  Pallice,  67.  71,  72. 

Lascaris,  John,  169. 

Lauremian  Library,  4,  162,  303,  304. 

Lautrec,  65,  67. 

League  of  Cambrai,  62,  157. 

Leigue,  Holy,  66,  80. 

Leda,  299. 

Leo.  St.,  223 

Leo  III.,  Pope,  153,  225. 

Leo  IV.,  Pope,  225,  2^6. 

LEO  X.,  I'ope  (Giovanni  di  Lorenzo 
de'  Medici),  Career  of:  Second  son 
of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  2  ;  his 
birth  in  Palazzo  Medici  in  Florence, 
5  ;  his  brot  icrs  and  sisters,  6  ;  his 
early  recollections,  7 ;  has  Politian 
for  his  tutor,  8,  9 ;  receives  the  ton- 
sure and  is  granted  preferment,  9, 
10 ;  is  nominated  by  Innocent  VIII. 
Cardinal  Deacon  of  Santa  Maria  in 
Domenica,  13 ;  certain  conditions 
imposed  by  the  Pope,  14 ;  he  publicly 
receives  the  scarlet  hat,  16-18 ;  his 
personal  appearance  in  his  youth,  19  ; 
he  sets  out  for  Rome,  19  ;  his  letter 
to  his  father,  21,  22 ;  he  receives  an 
important  letter  from  the  Magnificent 
Lorenzo,  23 ;  is  invested  with  lega- 
tine  authority  in  Tuscany,  30 ;  his 
letter  to  his  elder  brother  Piero  de1 
Medici,  31,  32  ;  attends  the  conclave 
which  elects  Alexander  VI.,  35 ;  re- 
turns to  Florence,  36 ;  his  brave 
conduct  prior  to  the  expulsion  of  the 
Medici,  42  ;  crosses  the  Apennines  in 
disguise  and  finds  safety  in  Bologna, 
43 ;  blood-money  is  placed  on  his 
head  by  the  Florentine  Republic,  44; 
he  is  joined  by  his  cousin  Giulio,  46  ; 
sets  out  with  a  party  of  friends  to 
travel  in  Northern  Europe,  47  ;  his 
interview  with  the  Emperor  Maxi- 
milian, 48 ;  meets  with  the  future 
Julius  II.  at  Savona,  49;  by  Piero's 


death  he  becomes  the  acknowledged 
head  of  his  family.  53  ;  his  friendship 
with  Cardinal  Franciotto,  53,  54 ; 
makes  his  palace  in  Rome  a  literary 
and  artistic  centre,  54  ;  his  extrava- 
gance, 55  ;  contrast  between  him  and 
Julius  II.,  57,  58;  accompanies 
Julius  II.  on  his  campaigns,  59-62  ; 
is  appointed  one  of  the  judges  of  the 
Duke  of  Urbino's  conduct,  65  ;  is 
nominated  Cardinal-Legate  of 
Bologna,  65,  66;  is  present  at  the 
battle  of  Ravenna,  67,  68 ;  is  made 
prisoner  by  the  French.  70 ;  is  sent 
to  Bologna,  and  thence  to  Modena 
and  Milan,  72 ;  his  difficult  position 
at  Milan,  72;  his  successful  attempt 
at  escape,  74-76;  importance  of  this 
incident,  77 ;  his  efforts  for  a 
Medicean  restoration  in  Florence.  82  ; 
enters  Florentine  territory  with  the 
Spanish  army  of  Cardona,  83 ;  his 
former  connection  with  Prato,  86 ; 
criticism  of  his  conduct  during  the 
siege  and  sack  of  Prato.  87-92  ;  his 
state  entry  into  Florence,  96 ;  his 
measures  for  the  government  of 
Florence,  96-98  ;  he  sets  out  to  attend 
the  conclave  in  Rome,  99 ;  he  arrives 
in  Rome  ill,  105 ;  he  is  elected  Pope 
under  the  title  of  Leo  X.,  106-108; 
Guicciardmi's  account  of  the  new 
Pontiff,  109 ;  his  general  appearance 
at  this  period,  in,  112:  he  is  crowned 
in  St.  Peter's,  113  ;  his  splendid  pro- 
cession to  the  Lateran,  124-127 ; 
speculation  as  to  his  foreign  and 
domestic  policy,  129,  130;  his  aims 
in  Italy,  131,  132;  his  policy  abroad, 
J33»  I34!  his  popularity  in  Rome, 
136;  his  letters  to  Henry  VIII.  of 
England  and  other  European  princes, 
137 ;  his  alarm  at  the  invasion  of 
Italy  by  Francis  I.  of  France,  140; 
his  secret  instructions  to  Lorenzo  de' 
Medici  and  to  Cardinal  Schinner 
before  the  battle  of  Marignano,  141 ; 
his  altercation  with  the  Venetian 
envoy,  142,  143 ;  he  decides  to  hold 
a  conference  with  King  Francis,  151, 
152 ;  enters  Florence  amid  public 
rejoicings,  144-147 ;  he  proceeds  to 
Bologna,  149,  150;  his  meeting  with 
King  Francis,  151,  152  ;  returns  to 
Florence,  154  ;  arrives  in  Rome,  156 ; 
his  grief  at  his  brother's  death,  157; 
his  action  against  the  Duke  of  Urbino, 
158 ;  he  drives  out  Francesco-Maria 


INDEX 


357 


Delia  Rovere  and  proclaims  his  own 
nephew  Lorenzo  Duke  of  Urbino,  159 ; 
his  patronage  of  scholars  and  poets, 
of  whom  he  is  the  papal  Maecenas, 
162-167;  his  delight  in  musicians, 
improvvisatori  and  buffoons,  167, 168 ; 
his  love  of  practical  jesting,  168-172  ; 
his  friendship  with  Fra  Mariano 
Fetti,  173  ;  his  patronage  of  the 
drama,  174-180;  witnesses  moresche 
and  processions,  180,  181 ;  his  thrift- 
lessness  and  lavish  expenditure,  182- 
185;  he  entertains  Isabella  of  Mantua, 
185-191 ;  his  love  of  the  chase,  192, 
193  ;  his  life  at  the  Villa  Magliana, 
194-196  ;  his  hunting  and  fishing  ex- 
peditions, 19^-202;  his  portrait  in 
the  poems  of  Molosso  and  Postumo, 
203-210 ;  criticism  of  his  conduct, 
211-214;  his  patronage  of  Raphael 
and  Michelangelo,  215-217;  his 
treatment  of  the  latter,  217-219;  his 
constant  employment  of  Raphael  at 
the  Vatican,  219237;  his  regret  at 
Raphaels  death,  240;  his  portrait 
painted  by  Raphael,  242,  243 ;  his  un- 
popularity with  the  Cardinals,  245, 
246  ;  he  legitimises  his  cousin  Giulio 
de'  Medici  and  creates  him  a  Cardinal, 
247 ;  he  is  menaced  by  Petrucci's 
plot,  248-250 ;  his  creation  of  thirty- 
one  Cardinals,  255-257  ;  his  ambitious 
schemes  for  the  papal  nephew,  258, 
259  ;  his  hopes  shattered  by  the  early 
death  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  264; 
consequent  effect  on  his  foreign 
policy,  265,  266 ;  he  forms  a  definite 
alliance  with  the  Emperor  Charles  V., 
267 ;  his  sudden  illness  and  its  cause, 

269,  270;  his  death  at  the  Vatican, 

270,  271 ;  his   burial  in   St.    Peter's, 
273 ;     suspicion    of  poisoning,    273, 
274 ;  his  monument  in  Santa  Maria 
sopra  Minerva,    275,    276;    estimate 
and  criticism  of  his  character,  public 
and  private,  277-284. 

Leo  XI.,  Pope  (Alessandro  de'  Medici), 

348-350. 
Lica,  208. 
Licaba,  208. 
Lionardo  da  Vinci,  216. 
Lippi,  Fra  Lippo,  86. 
Lomellino,  no. 
Louis  XI.,  King  of  France,  9. 
Louis  XII.,  King  of  France,  48,  60,  71, 

80,  129,  134,  137,  138,  224. 
Louis  XIV.,  161. 
Lucretia,  162,  351,  352. 
Luther,  Martin,  181,  256,  284,  321,  323. 


MACHIAVELLI,  Niccolo,  2,  6,  39,  59,  83, 

85,  88,  93,  103, 133, 159, 163,  166, 167, 

I75,  177.  J78.  262,  263,  279,  297,  343. 

Madeleine  de  la  Tour  d'Auvergne,  258, 

260,  261. 

Madonna  dell'  Impruneta,  no. 
Malespina,  76,  273. 
Mantegna,  34. 

Manuel  I.,  King  of  Portugal,  170,  256. 
Marcus  Aurelius,  126. 
Margaret  of  Austria,  331-333. 
Marguerite  de  Valois,  139,  140. 
Marignano,  battle  of,  140,  141,  143. 
Marone  da  Brescia,  167,  168. 
Martin  IV.,  Pope,  202. 
Marzocco,  11,  145. 
Masaccio,  '.3. 
Maxentius,  295. 
Maximilian,  Emperor,  47,  48, 51,  79,  81, 

130,  134,  137,  140,  149,  266,  295. 
MEDICI,  members  of  the  House  of — 
Alessandro,  Duke  of  Florence,  266, 

288,  313,  323,  328-332. 
Alessandro,  see  Leo  XI. 
Bernadetto,  348. 
Bernardino,  347. 

Caterina  (afterwards  Queen  of 
France),  261,  262,  264,  265,  288, 

302,  313,  330,  331,  337-339- 
Clarice,  51,  314,  329,  345. 
Contessina,  6,  127,  257. 

Cosimo  il  Vecchio,  4,  260,  264, 265. 
Cosimo  I.,  Grand-Duke  of  Tuscany, 

51,  257,  304,  305. 
Giambuono,  347. 
Gian-Angelo,  see  Pius  IV. 
Gian-Giacomo,  Marquis  of  Meleg- 

nano,  347. 

GIOVANNI,  see  LEO  X. 
Giovanni  delle   Bande  Nere,  304, 

3«- 

Giulia,  348. 
Giuliano   the   Elder,   7,   246,  292, 

303,  343- 

Giuliano  the  Younger,  6,  41,  46,  81, 
91,  95,  96,  134-138,  141, 148,  152, 
155-157,  184,  185,  261,  262,  303. 

GIULIO,  see  CLEMENT  VII. 

Ippolito,  Cardinal,  153,  156,  226, 
266,  275,  288,  296,  313,  323,328- 
330,  34°,  345- 

Lorenzo  I.  (II  Magnifico),  3,  6,  7, 
10-13,  15,  21-27,  29>  32>  74>  97i 
131,  144,  169,  173,  180,  211,  218, 
260,  284,  303. 

Lorenzo  II.,  Duke  of  Urbino,  51, 
84,  96,  107,  124,  134,  140,  148, 
155.  157-159,  188,  245,  258-263, 
266,  303,  329. 


358 


THE  MEDICI  POPES 


MEDICI,  members  of  the  House  of — cont. 

Lucrezia,  6,  271. 

Luisa,  6. 

Maddalena,  6,  49. 

Ottaviano,  348,  349. 

Piero  I.  (II  Gottoso),  3. 

Piero  II.  (II  Pazzo),  6,  29,  32,  33, 

38-41,  50,  51,  262,  329. 
Michelangelo    Buonarotti,   2,   85,    136, 
162,  216-219,  227,  241,  258,  262,  293, 
299,  302-306. 
Michelet,  Jean,  139,  142. 
Michelozzi,  Michelozzo,  4. 
Michiel,  Marcantonio,  241. 
Minerva,  120,  207,  275. 
Molosso,  Baldassare  (alias  Tranquillo), 

203-210. 

Molza  of  Modena,  164,  207. 
Moncada,  309. 

Montefeltre  of  Urbino,  46,  158,  220. 
Moro  de'  Nobili,  260. 

NARDI,  Jacopo,  88. 

Navarro,  Pedro,  66,  72,  140. 

Nemours,  Duke  of,  see  Medici,  Giuliano 

de'. 

Nero,  211. 

Nicholas  V.,  Pope,  282. 
Novara,  battle  of,  132,  137,  223. 
Noyon,  treaty  of,  157. 

ORANGE,  Philibert,  Prince  of,  304,  312, 
317,  322,  327. 

Orlando,  253. 

Orleans,  Duchess  of,  138. 

Orleans,  Duke  of,  138. 

Orleans,  Duke  of  (Henri  de  Valois,  after- 
wards Henry  II.  of  France),  337-339. 

Orsini,  family  of,  117,  195. 

Orsini,  Alfonsina,  32,  38,  156,  261. 

Orsini,  Cardinal,  210. 

Orsini,  Clarice,  5,  6,  8,  9. 

Orsini,  Giulio,  123. 

Orsini,  Valeric,  209. 

Ottaviani,  231. 

PALLESCHI,  40,  92,  94,  96,  109. 
Pallone,  game  of,  32. 
Paolucci,  Alfonso,  179,  180. 
Passerini,  Cardinal,  264,  313,  323. 
Pastor,  Professor  Ludwig,  277,  284. 
Paul  III.,  Pope,  see  Farnese. 
Pavia,  battle  of,  307,  308. 
Pazzi,  family  of,  7,  246,  251. 
Penni,  Gian-Francesco,  295. 
Penni,  Gian-Giacomo,  127. 
Perugino,  220,  221,  288. 


Peruzzi,  Baldassare,  135,  174,  176,  177, 
179,  221. 

Pescara,  Marquis  of,  267. 

Petrarch,  169,  170. 

Petrucci,  Cardinal  Alfonso,  106,  123, 
127,  155,  189,  191,  204,  248-254,  284. 

Petrucci,  Borghese,  248. 

Petrucci,  Cardinal  Raffaele,  248,  256. 

Philip,  Don,  48. 

Philomus,  in. 

Piacentino,  Fra,  270. 

Piagnoni,  no,  173. 

Piatese,  70. 

Piccolomini,  see  Pius  II.  and  Pius  III. 

Pico  della  Mirandola,  7,  16. 

Pistofilo,  89. 

Pius  II.,  Pope  (-(Eneas  Silvius  Piccolo- 
mini),  15,  50. 

Pius  III.,  Pope  (Francesco  Piccolomini), 
20,  50. 

Pius  IV.,  Pope  (Gian-Angelo  Medici), 

347,  348. 

Pius  VII.,  Pope,  294. 
Plato,  37,  228. 
Plautus,  136. 
Poco-in-testa,  249,  254. 
Politian  (Angelo  Poliziano),  7-9,37, 161. 
Primiero,  game  of,  184. 
Psyche,  234. 
Ptolemy,  239. 
Pucci,  Cardinal,  98,  123,  245,  318. 

QUERNO,  Camillo,  168,  171. 

RAMAZOTTO,  96. 

Rangone,  Bianca,  72,  256. 

Rangone,  Cardinal  Ercole,  207,  256. 

Ranke,  Leopold,  344. 

Raphael  (Raffaello  Sanzio  da  Urbino), 
103,  104,  146,  153,  167,  179,  186,  194, 
215-217,  219-243,  284,  292-294. 

Ravenna,  battle  of,  67,  71,  114,  124. 

Renzo  da  Ceri,  315,  318. 

Rhodes,  Knights  of,  46,  122,  287,  314. 

Riario,  Cardinal,  20,  106-108,  186,  187, 
245,  248,  251-254,  288,  299. 

Richmond,  Duke  of,  333. 

Ridoln,  family  of,  6,  123. 

Ridolfi,  Cardinal,  207,  257. 

Romano,  Giulio,  226,  293,  296,  299. 

Roscoe,  William,  10,  162,  213,  263. 

Rossi,  Cardinal,  243,  257. 

Rucellai,  Giovanni,  175. 

Rucellai,  Palla,  338. 

Rufus,  King  William,  214. 

SACRO  Possesso,  procession  of,  114, 
119-127,  182,  224. 


INDEX 


359 


Sadoleto,  Jacopo,  146,  164,  207,  281. 
Salviati,  family  of,  92,  123,  183. 
Salviati,  Cardinal,  180,  207,  257,  301. 
Salviati,  Jacopo,  16,  257. 
Salviati,  Maria,  338. 
San  Gallo,  Antonio  da,  275,  343. 
San  Gallo,  Francesco  da,  51. 
Sannazzaro,  146,  164,  272. 
Sanseverino,  Cardinal,  68,  71,  73,  100, 

199,  204,  206. 
Sansovino,  Jacopo,  145. 
Sarpi,  Fra  Paolo,  282. 
Sarto,  Andrea  del,  145,  146,  153. 
Sauli,  Cardinal,  121,  155,  248,  250,  252, 

253- 

Savelli,  Luca,  87. 
Savonarola,   Girolamo,   2,   36-38,   139, 

173- 

Schinner,  Cardinal,  63,  140,  141. 
Sebastiano  del  Piombo,  219,  305. 
Segni,  Bernardo,  345. 
Serapica  (Giovanni  Lazzaro  de  Magis- 

tris),    146,    148,  200,    204,    205,   234, 

274. 
Sforza,   Cardinal   Ascanio,   13,  20,  34, 

193- 

Sforza,  Ludovico,  38,  39. 
Sforza,  Maximilian,  137,  140,  141. 
Silvester,  or  Postumo,  207,  208. 
Sixtus    IV.,    Pope     (Francesco     Delia 

Rovere),  10,  12,  20,  235,  251. 
Socrates,  228. 
Soderini,    Cardinal,  106,  107,  150,  245, 

248,  251,  285,  287,  289,  290. 
Soderini,  Gian-Vittorio,  81. 
Soderini,  Piero,  80,  81,  83-85,  92,  93. 
Sodoma,  221. 
Soriano,  333. 
Spagna  Lo,  194. 
Speroni,  273,  274. 
Spurs,  battle  of  the,  137. 
Stanza,  Simone,  16. 
Stefano  di  Castrocaro,  30. 
Strozzi,  family  of,  92,  123,  183. 
Strozzi,  Filippo,  51,  314,  323,  328. 


Swiss  Guard,  63,  124,  296. 
Sylvester,  Pope  and  Saint,  118,  296. 

TAGLIACARNE,  216. 
Tebaldeo,  164,  207. 
Tiresia,  210. 
Titus,  117,  153. 
Tornabuoni,  family  of,  123. 
Tornabuoni,  Lucrezia,  8. 
Torrigiano,  270. 
Tournon,  Cardinal,  337. 
Trissino,  Gian-Giorgio,  175. 
Trivulzi,  Gian  Giorgio,  76,  140. 
Turks,  130,  152. 

UDINE,  Giovanni  da,  231-233,  293,  303, 

306. 

Ulrich  von  Hutten,  259. 
University  of  Rome,  163. 
Urban  IV.,  Pope,  163. 
Urbino,     Duke     of     (Francesco-Maria 

Delia  Rovere),  64,  65,  82,  123,  151- 

153,  155.  l89,  245,  273,  308,  314,  317, 

323- 
Urbino,  war  of,  159,  245,  248,  256. 

VAILA,  battle  of,  62,  157. 

Valeriano,  104. 

Vasari,    Giorgio,   9,  18,  147,  148,  176, 

177,    223,   233,   236,   237,    257,   295, 

332- 

Vasco  da  Gama,  33. 
Venus,  121,  181,  233,  234. 
Vergil,  164,  165. 
Vettori,  Francesco,  96,    103,  183,  274, 

279. 

Vida,  164,  207. 

Villari,  Professor  Pasquale,  279. 
Volpato,  251. 

WOLSEY,  Cardinal,  245,  286,  289. 
YVES  d'  Allegre,  66,  67. 
ZAZZI,  Rinaldo,  74-76. 


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A  WANDERER  IN  LONDON.     E.  V.  Lucas. 
THE  NORFOLK  BROADS.     W.  A.  Dutt. 
THE  NEW  FOREST.     Horace  G.  Hutchinson. 
NAPLES.     Arthur  H.  Norway. 
THE  CITIES  OF  UMBRIA.     Edward  Hutton. 
THE  CITIES  OF  SPAIN.     Edward  Hutton. 
•THE     CITIES     OF     LOVBARDY.         Edward 

Hutton. 
FLORENCE  AND  NORTHERN  TUSCANY,  WITH 

GENOA.     Edward  Hutton. 
SIENA   AND   SOUTHERN  TUSCANY.      Edward 

Hutton. 


ROME.     Edward  Hutton. 
VENICE  AND  VENETIA.     Edward  Hutton. 
THB  BRETONS  AT  HOME.     F.  M.  Gostling. 
THE  LAND  OF  PARDONS  (Brittany).     Anatole 

Le  Braz. 

A  BOOK  OF  THE  RHINE.       S.  Baring-Gould. 
THE  NAPLES  RIVIERA.     H.  M.  Yaughan. 
DAYS  IN  CORNWALL.     C.  Lewis  Hind. 
THROUGH   EA«T  ANGLIA  IN  A  MOTOR  CAR. 

J.  E.  Vincent. 

THE  SKIRTS  OF  THE  GREAT  CITY.     Mrs.  \. 

G.  Bell. 

ROUND  ABOUT  WILTSHIRE.     A.  G.  Bradley. 
SCOTLAND  OF  TO-DAY.     T.  F.  Henderson  and 

Francis  Watt. 
NORWAY  AND  ITS  FJORDS.     M.  A.  Wyllie. 


Some  Books  on  Art. 


ART  AND  LIFE.  T.  Sturge  Moore.  Illustrated. 
Cr.  Svo.  cr.  net. 

AIMS  AND  IDEALS  IN  ART.  George  Clausen. 
Illustrated.  Second  Edition.  Large  Post 
&vo.  51.  net. 

Six  LECTURES  ON  PAINTING.  George  Clausen. 
Illustrated.  Third  Edition.  Large  Post 
Svo.  $s.  i>J.  net. 

FRANCESCO  GUARDI,  1712-1793.  G.  A. 
Sinionson.  Illustrated.  Imperial  4/0. 
£2  if.  net. 


ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 
William  Blake.  Quarto.  '  £1  is.  net. 

JOHN  LUCAS,  PORTRAIT  PAINTER,  1828-1874. 
Arthur  Lucas.  Illustrated.  Imperial  4/0. 
£3  3f.  net. 

ONK  HUNDRED  MASTERPIECES  OF  PAINTING. 
\\ith  an  Introduction  by  R.  C.  Witt.  Illus- 
trated. Second  Edition.  DemySvo.  los.dd. 
net. 

A  GUIDE  TO  THE  BRITISH  PICTURES  IN  THK 
NATIONAL  GALLERY.  Edward  Kingston. 
Illustrated.  Fcap.  Zvo.  3.1-.  6d.  net. 


22 


METHUEN  AND  COMPANY  LIMITED 


SOMK  BOOKS  ON  ART — continued. 

ONE  HUNORPD  MASTERPIECES  OP  SCULPTURE. 
With  an  Introduction  by  G.  F.  Hill.  Illus- 
trated. Demy  Zvo.  lor.  6d.  net. 

A  ROMNKY  FOLIO.  With  an  Essay  by  A.  B. 
Chamberlain.  Imperial  Folio.  £15  15-1. 
net. 

THK  SAINTS  IN  ART.  Margaret  E.  Tabor. 
Illustrated.  Fcap.  &vo.  y.  64.  net. 

SCHOOLS  OF  PAINTING.  Mary  Innes.  Illus- 
trated. Cr.  Zvo.  $s.  net. 


THE  POST  IMPRESSIONISTS.    C.  Lewis  Hind. 

Illustrated.     Royal  8vo.     js.  6d.  net. 
CELTIC  ART  IN  PAGAN  AND  CHRISTIAN  TIMES. 

J.  R.  Allen.    Illustrated.    Second  Edition. 

Demy  &vo.    js.  (>d.  net. 
"CLASSICS  or  AKT."    See  page  13. 
"THE  CONNOISSEUR'S  LIBRARY."  Seepage  14 
"  LITTLE  BOOKS  ON  ART."    See  page  16. 
"THE  LITTLE  GALLERIES."    See  page  17. 


Some  Books  on  Italy. 


A  HISTORY  OK  MILAN  UNDER  THE  SFORZA. 

Cecilia  M.  Ady.     Illustrated.     Dewy  Svo. 

i  or.  6d.  net. 
A    HISTORY    OF    VERONA.        A.    M.    Allen. 

Illustrated.     Demy  &vo,     jaj.  6d.  net. 
A  HISTORY  OF  PERUGIA.     William  Heywood. 

Illustrated.     Demy  8va.     lar.  (>d.  net. 
THE  LAKES  OK  NORTHERN  ITALY.     Richard 

Bagot.     Illustrated.     Fcap.  &vo.     5*.  net. 
WOMAN  IN  ITALY.    W.  Boulting.    Illustrated. 

Demy  &vo.     IOT.  (>d.  net. 
OLD  ETRURIA  AND  MODERN  TUSCANY.    Mary 

L.  Cameron.     Illustrated.     Second  Edition. 

Cr.  &ve.     6s.  net. 
FLORENCE  AND  THE  CITIES  OF  NORTHERN 

TUSCANY,  WITH  GENOA.    Edward  Huttoa. 

Illustrated.     Second  Edition.     Cr.  Svo.     61. 
SIENA  AND  SOUTHERN  TUSCANY.       Edward 

Hutton.        Illustrated.        Second  Edition. 

Cr.  Zvo.    6s. 
IN  UNKNOWN   TUSCANY.       Edward  Hutton. 

Illustrated.      Second  Edition.      Demy  &io, 

•jt.  6d.  net. 
VENICE    AXD    VENETIA.       Edward    Hutton. 

Illustrated.     Cr.  Svo.     6s. 
VENICE  ON  FOOT.  H.A.Douglas.  Illustrated. 

Fcap.  Svo.     5*.  net. 
VENICE    AND    HER    TREASURES.        H.    A. 

Douglas.     Illustrated.     Fcap.  Zvo.     $s.  net. 
THE    DOGES    OF    VENICE.       Mrs.    Aubrey 

Richardson^  llustrated.  Demy  Svo.  los.  (xi. 

tut. 
FLORENCE  :   Her  History  and  Art  to  the  Fall 

of  the  Republic.     F.  A.  Hyett.     Demy  Svo. 

js.  6d.  net. 
FLORENCE  AND  HER  TREASURES.       H.  M. 

Vaughan.     Illustrated.    Fcap.  Svo.     $j.  net. 
COUNTRY  WALKS  ABOUT  FLORENCE.    Edward 

Hutton.     Illustrated.     Fcap.  Svo.     5*.  net. 
NAPLES  :  Past  and  Present.      A.  H.  Norway. 

Illustrated.     Third  Edition.     Cr.  Svo.     6f. 
THE   NAPLES  RIVIERA.       H.    M.   Vaughan. 

Illustrated.     Second  Edition.     Cr.  8vo.    6s. 
SICILY:   The  New  Winter  Resort.      Douglas    j 

Sladen.     Illustrated.    Second  Edition.    Cr.    I 

8v«.     51.  net. 


SICILY.     F.  H.  Jackson.    Illustrated.      Small 

Pott  &vo.    Cleth,  af.  6d.  ,.ec,  leather,  31.  64. 

net. 
ROME.    Edward  Hutton.     Illustrated.    Second 

Edition.     Cr.  8vo.    6s. 
A    ROMAN    PILGRIMAGE.      R.    E.    Roberts. 

Illustrated.    Demy  Zva.     los.  6d.  net. 
ROME.     C.  G.  Ellaby.      Illustrated.      Small 

Pott  Zvo.    Cloth,  2s.  6d.  net;  leather,  y.  6rf. 

net. 
THE  CITIES  OF  UMBRIA.     Edward  Huttoa. 

Illustrated.     Fourth  Edition.    Cr.  8vo.     6t. 
*XHK  CITIES  OF  LOMBARDY.    lid  ward  Hutton. 

Illustrated.     Cr.  8;>o.    6s. 
THE    LIVES     OF     S.    FRANCIS    OF    ASSISI. 

Brother  Thomas  of  Celano.      Cr.  Svf.     yt. 

ret. 

LORENZO   THE    MAGNIFICENT.        E.    L.    S. 

Horsburgh.     Illustrated.     Stcond  Edition. 

Demy  Svo.     151.  net. 
GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA.    E.  L.  S.  Horsburgh. 

Illustrated.     Cr.  Svo.     jr.  net. 
ST.  CATHERINE  OF  SIENA  AND  HER  TIMES. 

By  the  Author  of"  Mdlle  Mori."   Illustrated. 

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DANTE  AND   HIS   ITALY.        Lonsdale  Ragg. 

Illustrated.     Demy  Zvo.     is*.  64.  net. 
DANTE    ALIGHIBXI  :    His    Life    and    Works. 

Paget  Toynbee.     Illustrated.     Cr.  &vo.    $s. 

net. 

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trated.   Demy  Zva.     15*.  net. 
SHELLEY  AND  His  FRIENDS  IN  ITALY.     Helen 

R.  Angeli.    Illustrated.    Demyfyuo.    los.  6d. 

net. 
HOME  LIKE  IN  ITALY.       Lina  Duff  Gordon. 

Illustrated.      Second  Edition.      Demy  8rt». 

lor.  6d.  net. 
SKIES  ITALIAN  :  A  Little  Breviary  for  Travellers 

in  Italy.     Ruth  S.  Phelps.     Fcap.  Svo.     jr. 

net. 
*A  WANDERER  IN  FLORENCE.    E.  V.  Lucas. 

Illustrated.     Cr.  Zvo.    6s. 
•UNITED  ITALY.     F.  M.  Underwood.     Demy 

&vo.     lot.  6d.  tut. 


FICTION 


PART  III. — A  SELECTION  OF  WORKS  OF  FICTION 


Albanesi  (E.  Maria).    SUSANNAH  AND 

ONE    OTHER.      Fourth    Edition.      Cr. 

Svo.    6s. 
LOVE    AND    LOUISA.      Second   Edition. 

Cr.  Bvo.     6s. 
THE  BROWN  EYES  OF   MARY.     Third 

Edition.     Cr.  Svo.     6s. 
I    KNOW    A    MAIDEN.     Third   Edition. 

Cr.  Svo.    6s. 
THE  INVINCIBLE  AMELIA:    OR,    THE 

POLITE    ADVENTURESS.       Third    Edition. 

Cr.  Svo.     31.  (xf. 
THE     GLAD     HEART.       Fifth    Edition. 

Cr.  Svo.    6f. 
•OLIVIA   MARY.     Cr.  Svo.    6s. 

Bagot  (Richard*.  A  ROMAN  MYSTERY. 

Third  Edition.     Cr.  Svo.     6s. 
THE   PASSPORT.     Fourth  Edition.     Cr. 

Svo.     6s. 
ANTHONY  CUTHBERT.   Fourth  Edition. 

Cr.  Svo.     6s. 

LOVE'S  PROXY.    Cr.  Svo.    6s. 
DONNA    DIANA.      Second  Edition.      Cr. 

Hvo.     6s. 
CASTING    OF    NETS.     Twelfth    Edition. 

C-r.  Svo.     6s. 
THE  HOUSE  OF  SERRAVALLE.     Third 

Edition.     Cr.  Svo.     6s. 

Bailey  {B.C.).  STORM  AND  TREASURE. 

Thitd  Edition.     Cr.  Svo.     6s. 
THE  LONELY  QUEEN.       Third  Edition. 

Cr.  Svo.    6s. 

Baring-Gould   (S.).       IN   THE   ROAR 

OF  THE  SEA.    Eighth  Edition.     Cr.  Svo. 

6s. 
MARGERY    OF     QUETHER.          Second 

Edition.     Cr.  Svo.     6s. 
THE  QUEEN  OF  LOVE.     Fifth  Edition. 

Cr.  &vi>.     6s. 

JACQUETTA.  Third  Edition.  Cr.  Svo.  6s. 
KITTY  ALONE.  Fifth  Edition.  Cr.Svo.  6s. 
NOEMI.  Illustrated.  Fourth  Edition.  Cr. 

THE'  BROOM -SQUIRE.  Illustrated. 
Fifth  Edition.  Cr.  Svo.  6s. 

DARTMOOR    IDYLLS.     Cr.  Svo.    6s. 

GUAVAS  THE  TINNER.  Illustrated. 
Secnnd  Edition.  Cr.  Svo.  6s. 

BLADYS  OF  THE  STEWPONEY.  Illus- 
trated. Second  Edition.  Cr.  Svo.  6s. 

PABO   THE   PRIEST.     Cr.  Svo.    6s. 

WINE  FRED.  Illustrated.  Second  Edition. 
Cr.  &vo.  6s. 

ROYAL  GEORGIE.    Illustrated.    Cr.Sva.6s. 

CHRIS   OF   ALL  SORTS.    Cr.  Svo.    6s. 

IN    DEWISLAND.      Second  Edition.      Cr. 

MRS!  CURGENVEN  OF  CURGENVEN. 
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Barr  (Robert).  IN  THE  MIDST  OF 
ALARMS.  Third  Edition.  Cr.  Svo.  6s. 

THE  COUNTESS  TEKLA.  Fifth 
Edition.  Cr.  Svo.  6s. 

THE  MUTABLE  MANY.  Third  Edition. 
Cr.  Zvo.  6s. 

Begbie  (Harold).  THE  CURIOUS  AND 
DIVERTING  ADVENTURES  OF  SIR 
JOHN  SPARROW,  BART.  ;  OR,  THE 
PROGRESS  OF  AN  OPEN  MIND.  Second 
Edition.  Cr.  Svo.  6s. 

Belloc  (H.).  EMMANUEL  BURDEN, 
MERCHANT.  Illustrated.  Second  Edition. 
Cr.  Svo.  6s. 

A  CHANGE  IN  THE  CABINET.  Third 
Edition.  Cr.  Svo.  6s. 

Belloc-Lowndes  (Mrs.).  THE  CHINK 
IN  THE  ARMOUR.  Fourth  Ediiion. 
Cr.  Svo.  6s. 

•MARY  PECHELL.     Cr.  Svo.    6s. 

Bennett  (Arnold).     CLAY  HANGER. 

Tenth  Edition.     Cr.  Svo.     6s. 
THE  CARD.     Sixth  Edition.     Cr.  Svo.    6s. 
HILDA   LESSWAYS.       Seventh    Edition. 

Cr.  Svo.    6s. 
•BURIED      ALIVE.        A    Ne-M   Edition. 

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A   MAN    FROM  THE   NORTH.     A  New 

Edition.     Cr.  &vo.     6s. 
THE  MATADOR  OF  THE  FIVE  TOWNS. 

Second  Edition.     Cr.  Svo.     6s. 

Benson  (E.  P.).  DODO :  A  DETAIL  OF  THE 
DAY.  Sixteenth  Edition.  Cr.  Svo.  6s. 

Birmingham  (George  A.).  SPANISH 
GOLD.  Sixth  Edition.  Cr.  Svo.  6.1. 

THE  SEARCH  PARTY.  Fifth  Edition. 
Cr.  Svo.  6s. 

LALAGE'S  LOVERS.  Third  Edition.  Cr. 
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Bowen  (Marjorie).  I  WILL  MAIN- 
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DEFENDER  OF  THE  FAITH.  Fifth 
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*A   KNIGHT   OF   SPAIN.      Cr.  Svo.      6s. 

THE  QUEST  OF  GLORY.  Third  Edi- 
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GOD  AND  THE  KING.  Fourth  Edition. 
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Clifford  (Mrs.  W.  K-).  THE  GETTING 
WELL  OK  DOROTHY.  Illustrated. 
Second  Edition.  Cr.  Svo.  3^.  6d. 

Conrad  (Joseph).  THE  SECRETAGENT.- 

A  Simple  Tale.  Fourth  Ed.  Cr.  Svo.  dr. 
A  SET  OF  SIX.  Fourth  Edition.  Cr.  Svo.  6s. 
UNDER  WESTERN  EYES.  Second  Ed. 

Cr.  Svo.    6s. 


METHUEN  AND  COMPANY  LIMITED 


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MAN.     Cr.  8vo.     6s. 

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WORLDS.     Thirty-first  Ed.    Cr.Zvo.    6s. 
VENDETTA  ;  OR,  THE  STORV  OF  ONE  FOR- 
GOTTEN.    Twenty-ninth  Edition.    Cr.  &vo. 

6s. 
THELMA  :      A      NORWEGIAN     PRINCESS. 

Forty-second  Edition.    Cr.  &va.     6s. 
ARDATH  :  THE  STORY  oc  A  DEAD  SELF. 

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THE    SOUL    OF     LILITH.      Seventeenth 

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WORMWOOD  :      A    DRAMA    OF    PARIS. 

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BARABBAS  :    A  DREAM  OP  THE  WORLD'S 

TRAGEDY.     Forty-sixth  Edition.     Cr.  8vo. 

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THE  MASTER-CHRISTIAN.     Thirteenth 

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TEMPORAL    POWER  :       A    STUDY     IN 

SUPREMACY.       Second     Edition.        tyzth 

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GOD'S    GOOD    MAN  :     A   SIMPLE   LOVE 

STORY.     Fifteenth  Edition,      t^th  Thou- 
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HOLY    ORDERS:    THE   TRAGEDY    OF   A 

QUIET    LIFE.       Second    Edition.       \ioth 

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BOY  :  a  Sketch.     Twelfth  Edition.    Cr.  8vt>. 

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CAMEOS.   Fourteenth  Edition.    Cr.  67,0.    6s. 
THE  LIFE  EVERLASTING.      Fifth  Ed. 

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Crockett  (S.  R.).  LOCHINVAR.  Illus- 
trated. Third  Edition.  Cr.  8vo.  6s. 

THE  STANDARD  BEARER.  Second 
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Croker  (B.  M.).  THE  OLD  CANTON- 
MENT. Second  Edition.  Cr.  8vo.  6s. 

JOHANNA.     Second  Edition.     Cr.  &vo.     6s. 

THE  HAPPY  VALLEY.  Fourth  Edition. 
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A  NINE  DAYS'  WONDER.  Fourth 
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PEGGY  OF  THE  BARTONS.  Seventh 
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ANGEL.     Fifth  Edition.     Cr.  8ve.     6s. 

KATHERINE  THE  ARROGANT.  Sixth 
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BABES  IN  THE  WOOD.  Fourth  Edition. 
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Danby  (Frank.).  JOSEPH  IN  JEO- 
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Doyle  (Sir  A.  Conan).  ROUND  THE  RED 
LAMP.  Twelfth  Edition.  Cr.  8vo.  6s. 

Fenn  (G.  Manville).  SYD  BELTON : 
THK  BOY  WHO  WOULD  NOT  GO  TO  SEA. 
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Findlater  ;J.  H.).  THE  GREEN  GRAVES 
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THE'LADDER  TO  THE  STARS.  Second 

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Findlater  (Mary).     A  NARROW  WAY. 

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Fry  (B.  and  C.  B.).  A  MOTHER'S  SON. 
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Harrad-en  (Beatricel .    I  N  V  A  R  Y I N  G 

MOODS.  Fourteenth  Edition.   Cr.  8vo.  6s. 

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INTERPLAY.    Fifth  Edition.    Cr.  Sve.    6s. 

Hichens  (Robertl.  THE  PROPHET  OF 
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THE  WOMAN  WITH  THE  FAN.  Eighth 
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THE  DWELLER  ON  THE  THRES- 
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PHROSO.  Illustrated.  Eighth  Edition. 
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MRS.  MAXON  PROTESTS.  Third  Edi- 
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Hutten  (Baroness  vonV  THE  HALO. 
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FICTION 


'  Inner  Shrine"  (Author  of  the).    THE 

WILD  U LIVE.     Third  Edition.     Cr.  Svo. 
6s. 

Jacobs    (W.    W.).      MANY    CARGOES. 

Thirty-second  Edition.      Cr.  Zvo.      31.  6d. 

*AI;o    Illustrated    in    colour.     Demy    Zvo. 

js.  6d.  net. 
SEA  URCHINS.     Sixteenth  Edition.      Cr. 

Zvo.     %s.  6<t. 
A     MASTER    OF    CRAFT.         Illustrated. 

Ninth  Etnt.ot.     Cr.  Zw>.     3*.  6d. 
LIGHT  FREIGHTS.      Illustrated.     Eighth 

Edition.     Cr.  £vo.     31.  6d. 
THE     SKIPPER'S    WOOING.       Eleventh 

l:.i  ttion.     Cr.  &ro.     y.  6d. 
AT  SUNW1CH  PORT.     Illustrated.    Tenth 

Edition.     Cr.  Zvo.     3.?.  6d. 
DIALSTONELANE.    Illustrated.     Eighth 

P^dition.     Cr.  Zvo.     3J.  (>d. 
ODD  CRAFT.     Illustrated,     fifth  Edition. 

Cr.  Zvo.      3*.  6d. 
THE  LADY  OF  THE  BARGE.     Illustrated. 

Ninth  Edition.     Cr.  Zvo.     js.  6d. 
SALTHAVEN.    Illustrated.     Third  Edition. 

Cr.  Zvo.     3$.  6d. 
SAILORS'     KNOTS.       Illustrated.      fifth 

Edition.     Cr.    Zvo.     y.  6d. 
SHORT   CRUISES.     Third  Edition.     Cr. 

Zvo.     3$.  6d. 

James  (Henry).    THE  GOLDEN  BOWL. 

Tnird  Ediiion.     Cr.  Svo.     6s 

Le  Queux  (William).  THE  HUNCHBACK 
OF  WESTMINSTER.  Third  Edition. 

THE    CLOSED    BOOK.      Third   Edition. 

THE    VALLEY     OF     THE     SHADOW. 

Illustrated.     Third  Edition.     Cr.  Zvo.     6s. 
BEHIND  THE  THRONE.    Third  Edition. 

Cr.  Zvo.    6s. 

London  (Jack).  WHITE  FANG.  Eighth 
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Lucas  (E.  V.).  LISTENER'S  LURE  ;  AN 
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26 


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Whltby  (Beatrice).  ROSAMUND.  Second 
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FICTION 


27 


Williamson  C.  N.  and  A.  M.).  THE 
LIGHTNING  CONDUCTOR:  The 
Strange  Adventures  of  a  Motor  Car.  Illus- 
trated. Seventeenth  Edition.  Cr.  Szv. 
6s.  Also  Cr.  6v<>.  it.  net. 

THE  PRINCESS  PASSES  :  A  Romance  of 
a  Motor.  Illustrated.  Kinth  Edition. 

LADY^BETTY  ACROSS  THE  WATER. 
Eleventh  Edition.  Cr.  %vo.  6s. 

SCARLET  RUNNER.    Illustrated.     Third 

Edition.     Cr.  Sva.     6s. 
SET    IN    SILVER.      Illustrated.      Fourth 

Edititn.     Cr.  &vo.    6>. 


LORD    LOVELAND    DISCOVERS 

AMERICA.    Second  Edition.   Cr.Zvo.    6s. 

THE  GOLDEN  SILENCE.    Sixth  Edition. 

THE  GUESTS  OF  HERCULES.     Third 

Edition.     Cr.  6re.     6s. 
•THE  HEATHER  MOON.     Cr.  8fo.    6*. 

Wyllarde  (Dolf).  THE  PATHWAY  OF 
THE  PIONEER  (Nous  Autres).  Sixth 
Edition.  Cr.  8vo.  6s. 

THE      UNOFFICIAL      HONEYMOON 

Seventh  Edition.     Cr.  Zva.     6t. 
THE  CAREER  OF  BEAUTY  DARLING. 

Cr.  Sve.    6t. 


Methuen's  Two-Shilling  Novels. 

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•BOTOR  CHAPERON,  THE.    C.  N.  and  A.  M. 

Williamson. 

•CALL  OF  THE  BLOOD,  THE.    Robert  Hichens. 
CAR    OF    DESTINY    AND    ITS    ERRAND    IN 

SPAIN,  THE.     C.  N.  and  A.  M.  Williamson. 
CLEMENTINA.    A.  E.  W.  Mason. 
COLONEL  ENDERBV'S  WIFE.    Lucas  Malet. 
FELIX.     Robert  Hichens. 
GATE  OF  THE  DESERT,  THE.   John  Oxenham. 
MY  FRIEND  THE  CHAUFFEUR.      C.  N.  and 

A.  M.  Williamson. 


PRINCESS  VIRGINIA,  THE.    C.  N.  and  A.  H. 

Williamson. 

SEATS  OF  THK  MIGHTY,  THE.     Sir  Gilbert 
Parker. 

SERVANT  OF  THE  PUBLIC,  A.    Anthony  Hope. 
•SKT  in  SILVER.    C.  N.  and  A.  M.  Williamson. 
SEVERINS,  THB.     Mrs.  Alfred  Sidgwick. 
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*ViviEN.    W.  B.  Maxwell. 


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W.  K.  Clifford. 

GIRL  OF  THE  PEOPLE,  A.    L.  T.  Meade. 

HEPSY  GIPSY.      L.  T.  Meade.     a*,  dd. 

HONOURABLE  Miss,  THE,    L.  T.  Meade. 

MASTER  ROCKAFELLAR'S  VOYAGE.  W.  Clark 
Russell. 


ONLY   A    GUARD-ROOM    DOG.        Edith   E. 

Cuthell. 

RED  GRANGE,  THE.    Mrs.  Molesworth. 
SYD   BELTON  :     The    Boy   who    would   not 

go  to  Sea.     G.  Manville  Fenn. 
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Mann. 


28 


METHUEN  AND  COMPANY  LIMITED 


Methuen's  Shilling  Novels. 


•ANNA  OF  THE  FIVB  TOWNS.   Arnold  Bennett. 

BARBARV   SHEEP.     Robert   Hicheus. 

CHARM,  THE.     Alice  Perrin. 

•DEMON,  THE.     C.  N.  and  A.  M.  Williamson. 

GUARDED  FLAME,  THE.    W.  B.  Maxwell. 

JANE.     Marie  Corelli. 

LADY  BKTTV  ACROSS  THE  WATER.    C.  N. 

&  A.  M.  Williamson. 
•LONG  ROAD,  THE.     John  Oxenham. 
MIGHTY  ATOM,  THE.     Marie  Corelli. 
MIRAGE.     E.  Temple  Thurston. 
MISSING   DKLORA,  THE.     E  Phillips  Oppen- 

beim. 


ROUN'D  THE  RED  LAMP.    Sir  A.  C^nin  Doyle. 
•SECRET  WOMAN,  THE.     Eden  Phillpotts. 
•SEVERINS.  THE.     Mrs.  Alfred  Sidgwick. 
SPANISH  GOLD.     G.  A.  Birmingham. 
TALES  OF  MEAN  STREETS.     Arthur  Morrison. 
THE  HALO.     The  Baroness  von  Hutten. 
•TYRANT,  THK.     Mrs.  Henry  de  !a  Pasture. 
UNDER  THE  RED  ROBE.    Stanley  J.  Wcyman. 
VIRGINIA  PERFECT.     Peggy  Webiing. 
WOMAN    WITH    THE    FAN,   THE.        Robert 
Hkhens. 


The  Novels  of  Alexandre  Dumas. 

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ACT*. 

ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  PAMPHILE,  THE. 

AMAURY. 

BIRD  OF  FATE,  THE. 

BLACK  TULIP,  THK. 

BLACK  :  the  Story  of  a  Dog. 

CASTLE  OF  EPPSTEIN,  THE. 

CATHERINE  BLUM. 

CECILS. 

CHATELET,  THE. 

CHEVALIER    D'HARMENTAL,  THE.     (Double 

volume.) 

CHICOT  THE  JESTER. 
CHICOT  REDIVIVUS. 
COMTE  DE  MONTGOMMERY,  THE. 
CONSCIENCE. 
CONVICT'S  SON,  THE. 
CORSICAN  BROTHERS,  THE  ;   and  OTHO  THE 

ARCHER. 

CROP-EARED  JACQUOT. 
DOM  GORENFLOT 
Due  D'ANJOU,  THE. 
FATAL  COMBAT,  THB. 
FENCING  MASTER,  THE. 
FERNANDE. 
GABRIEL  LAMBERT 
GEORGES. 

GREAT  MASSACRE,  THE. 
HENRI  DE  NAVARKE. 
HELENS  DE  CHAVER.NY. 


HOROSCOPE,  THE. 

LEONE-LEONA. 

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MAN   i.v  THE    IKON    MASK,  THE.     (.Duuble 

volume.) 
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MOUTH  OF  HELL,  THE. 
NANON.    (Double  volume.) 
OLYMPIA. 

PAULINE;  PASCAL  BRUNO;  and  BONTEKOE. 
PERE  LA  RUINE. 
PORTE  SAINT-ANTOINF,  THE. 
PRINCE  OF  THIEVES,  THE. 
REMINISCENCES  OF  ANTONY,  THB. 
ST.  Qi  ENTIN. 
ROBIN  HOOD. 
SAMUEL  GELB. 

SNOWBALL  AND  THE  SULTANETTA,  THE. 
SYLVANDIRE. 

TAKING  OF  CALAIS,  THE. 
TALES  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL. 
TALES  OF  STRANGE  ADVENTURE. 
TALES  OF  TERROR. 

THREE  MUSKETEERS,  THE.   (Double  volume.) 
TOURNEY  OF  THE  RUE  ST.  ASTOINE. 
TRAGEDY  OF  NANTES,  THE. 
TWENTY  YEARS  AFTER.    (Double   volume.) 
WILD-DUCK  SHOOTER,  THE. 
WOLF-LEADER,  THE. 


FICTION 


29 


Methuen's  Sixpenny  Books. 

Medium  %vo. 


Albanesi    (E.   Maria).     LOVE    AND 
LOUISA. 

I   KNOW  A   MAIDEN. 

THE  BLUNDER  OF  AN  INNOCENT. 

PETER  A  PARASITE. 

•THE   INVINCIBLE   AMELIA. 

Anstey  (P.).    A  BAYARD  OF   BENGAL. 
Austen  (J.).     PRIDE  AND  PREJUDICE. 
Bagot  (Richard}.  A  ROMAN  MYSTERY. 
CASTING  OF  NETS. 
DONNA   DIANA. 

Balfour   (Andrew!.     BY    STROKE    OF 
SWORD. 

Baring-Gould  (S-).    FURZE  BLOOM. 

CHEAP  JACK  ZITA. 

KITTY   ALONE. 

URITH. 

THE  BROOM   SQUIRE. 

IN  THE  ROAR  OF  THE  SEA. 

NOEMI. 

A  BOOK  OF  FAIRY  TALES.    Illustrated. 

LITTLE  TU'PENNY. 

WINEFRED. 

THE   FROBISHERS. 

THE   QUEEN   OF   LOVE. 

ARMINELL. 

BLADYS  OF   THE  STEWPONEY. 

CHRIS  OF  ALL  SORTS. 

Barr  (Robert).    JENNIE  BAXTER. 
IN   THE  MIDST   OF   ALARMS. 
THE  COUNTESS  TEKLA. 
THE   MUTABLE   MANY. 

Benson  (E.  P.).    DODO. 
THE   VINTAGE. 

Bronte  .Charlotte).    SHIRLEY. 

Brownell    (C.    L'.      THE    HEART    OF 
JAPAN'. 

Burton  (J.  Bloundelle'.    ACROSS    THE 
SALT   SEAS. 

Caffyn    (Mrs.).     ANNE   MAULEVERER. 

Capes  (Bernard1.    THE  GREAT  SKENE 
MYSTERY. 

Clifford     Mrs.  W.    K.I.     A   FLASH   OF 

SUMMER. 
MRS.    KEITH'S  CRIME. 


Corbett    (Julian1      A 
GREAT  WATERS. 


BUSINESS     IN 


Croker  (Mrs.  B.  M.).    ANGEL. 
A   STATE   SECRET. 
PEGGY  OF   THE  BARTON'S. 
JOHANNA. 


Dante    (Alighieri). 

COMEDY  (Gary). 


THE     DIVINE 
ROUND    THE 


Doyle  (Sir  A.   Conan). 
RED  LAMP. 

Duncan     ;Sara    Jeannette .      THOSE 
DELIGHTFUL  AMERICANS. 

Eliot    (George).    THE  MILL  ON  THE 
FLOSS. 


Findlater     (Jane    H.).      THE 
GRAVES   OF   BALGOWRIE. 


GREEN 

Gallon  (Tom).    RICKERBY'S  FOLLY. 

Gaskell  (Mrs.;.    CRANFORD. 
MARY   BARTON. 
NORTH  AND  SOUTH. 

Gerard    (Dorothea).      HOLY    MATRI- 
MONY. 

THE  CONQUEST  OF  LONDON. 
MADE  OF  MONEY. 

•Glssing(G.).   THE  TOWN  TRAVELLER. 
THE  CROWN  OF  LIFE. 

Glanville    (Ernest.     T^HE    INCA'S 

TREASURE. 
THE  KLOOF  BRIDE. 

Gleig  (Charles).    BUNTER'S  CRUISE. 

Grimm     (The    Brothers;.       GRIMM'S 
FAIRY  TALES. 

Hope  (Anthony).    A  MAN  OF  MARK. 

A  CHANGE  OF  AIR. 

THE    CHRONICLES    OF    COUNT 

ANTONIO. 
PHROSO. 
THE  DOLLY  DIALOGUES. 


Hornung  (E.  W.). 
NO  TALES. 


DEAD  MEN  TELL 


Hyne  (C.  J.  CO-    PRINCE  RUPERT  THE 

BUCCANEER. 


Ingraham  (J.  H.). 
DAVID. 


THE  THRONE  OF 


METHUEN  AND  COMPANY  LIMITED 


Le   Queux    (W.\     THE   HUNCHBACK 

OF  WESTMINSTER. 
THE  CROOKED  WAY. 
THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  SHADOW. 

Levett- Yeats  (S.  K.).    THE  TRAITOR'S 

WAY. 
ORRAIN. 

Linton   (E.   Lynn\     THE  TRUE  HIS- 
TORY OF  JOSHUA  DAVIDSON. 

Lyall  (Edna).    DERRICK  VAUGHAN. 

Malet  Lucas).    THE  CARISSIMA. 
A  COUNSEL  OF  PERFECTION. 

Mann    (Mrs.    M.    E.).      MRS.    PETER 

HOWARD. 
A  LOST  ESTATE. 
THE  CEDAR  STAR. 
THE  PATTEN  EXPERIMENT. 
A  WINTER'S  TALE. 

Marchmont   (A.  W.).     MISER  HOAD- 

LEY'S  SECPvET. 
A  MOMENT'S  ERROR. 

Marryat  (Captain).    PETER  SIMPLE. 
JACOB  FAITHFUL. 

March  (Richard).  A  METAMORPHOSIS. 
THE  TWICKENHAM  PEERAGE. 
THE  GODDESS. 
THE  JOSS. 

Mason  (A.  E.  W.).    CLEMENTINA. 

Mathers  (Helenl.    HONEY. 
GRIFF  OF  GRIFFITHSCOURT. 
SAM'S  SWEETHEART. 
THE  FERRYMAN. 

Meade  (Mrs.  L.  T.).    DRIFT. 
Miller  (Esther).    LIVING  LIES. 

Mitford  (Bertram).  THE  SIGN  OF  THE 
SPIDER. 

Montresor  (F.  P.).    THE  ALIEN. 

Morrison   (Arthur).      THE    HOLE    IN 
THE  WALL. 

Nesbit  (E.).    THE  RED  HOUSE. 

Norris  (W.  E.).    HIS  GRACE. 
GILES  INGILBY. 
THE  CREDIT  OF  THE  COUNTY. 
LORD  LEONARD  THE  LUCKLESS. 
MATTHEW  AUSTEN. 
CLARISSA  FURIOSA. 

Ollphant  (Mrs.).    THE  LADY'S  WALK. 
SIR  ROBERT'S  FORTUNE. 


THE  PRODIGALS. 

THE  TWO  MARYS. 

Oppenheim  (E.  P.).    MASTER  OF  MEN. 

Parker  (Sir  Gilbert).     THE  POMP  OF 

THE  LAVILETTES. 

WHEN  YALMOND  CAME  TO  PONTIAC. 
THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  SWORD. 

Pemberton   (Max).    THE   FOOTSTEPS 

OF  A  THRONE. 
I  CROWN  THEE  KING. 
Phillpotts  (Eden).    THE  HUMAN  BOY. 
CHILDREN  OF  THE  MIST. 
THE  POACHER'S  WIFE. 
THE  RIVER. 


Ridge  (W.Pett).  A  SON  OF  THE  STATE. 

LOST  PROPERTY. 

GEORGE  and  THE  GENERAL. 

A  BREAKER  OF  LAWS. 

ERB. 

Russell  (W.  Clark).    ABANDONED. 
A  MARRIAGE  AT  SEA. 
MY  DANISH  SWEETHEART. 
HIS  ISLAND  PRINCESS. 

Sergeant  (Adeline).    THE  MASTER  OF 

BEECH  WOOD. 
BALBARA'S  MONEY. 
THE  YELLOW  DIAMOND. 
THE  LOVE  THAT  OVERCAME. 
Sidgwlck   (Mrs.   Alfred).    THE   KINS- 

Surtees  (R.  S.).    HAND  LEY  CROSS. 
MR.  SPONGE'S  SPORTING  TOUR. 
ASK  MAMMA. 

Walford  iMrs.  L.  B.).    MR.  SMITH. 

COUSINS. 

THE  BABY'S  GRANDMOTHER. 

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IOOM  1 1 /86  Series  9482 


